Supersonic Low Altitude Missile
The Supersonic Low Altitude Missile or SLAM was a
Conceived role
The SLAM was designed to complement the doctrine of
]Innovations
The use of a nuclear engine in the airframe promised to give the missile staggering and unprecedented low-altitude range, estimated to be roughly 113,000 miles (182,000 km) (over 4.5 times the equatorial circumference of the Earth). Despite misinformed public opinion, the idea that the engine could act as a secondary weapon for the missile is not practical.[2][3] According to Dr. Theodore C. Merkle, the head of Project Pluto, in both his testimony to Congress and in a publication regarding the nuclear ramjet propulsion system, he reassures both Congress and the public of this fact.[4][5] Specifically, he states "The reactor radiations, while intense, do not lead to problems with personnel who happen to be under such a power plant passing overhead at flight speed even for very low altitudes."[citation needed] In both documents, he describes calculations that prove the safety of the reactor and its negligible release of fission products compared to the background. Along the same vein of these calculations, the missile would be moving too quickly to expose any living things to prolonged radiation needed to induce radiation sickness. This is due to the relatively low population of neutrons that would make it to the ground per kilometer, for a vehicle traveling at several hundred meters per second. Any radioactive fuel elements within the reactor itself would be contained and not stripped by the air to reach the ground.[citation needed]
Another revolutionary aspect of the SLAM was its reliance on automation. It would have the mission of a
Development
The primary innovation was the engine of the aircraft, which was developed under the aegis of a separate project code-named
Although a prototype of the airframe was never constructed, the SLAM was to be a wingless, fin-guided aircraft; its appearance giving it the nickname "Flying Crowbar". Apart from the ventral ram-air intake it was very much in keeping with traditional missile design. Its estimated airspeed at 30,000 feet (9,100 m) was Mach 4.2.[citation needed]
The SLAM program was scrapped on July 1, 1964. By this time serious questions about its viability had been raised, such as how to test a device that would emit copious amounts of radioactive exhaust from its unshielded
Reactor design
The reactor had an outer diameter of 57.25 inches (1.454 m) and length 64.24 inches (1.632 m); the dimensions of the
The
The reactors were successfully tested at Jackass Flats in the Nevada Test Site. The Tory II-A reactor, the scaled-down variant, was tested in mid-1961 and successfully ran for several seconds on May 14, 1961. A full-scale variant, the Tory II-C, was run for almost 5 minutes at full power. The latter test, limited by the air storage facility capacity, ran for 292 seconds. The air fed to the reactor was preheated to 943 °F (506 °C) and compressed to 316 psi (2.18 MPa), to simulate ramjet flight conditions.[6]
See also
- The Lost Missile – a 1958 film focusing on a similar weapon
- 9M730 Burevestnik – a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile
- List of nuclear-powered aircraft
References
- ^ a b Trakimavičius, Lukas. "The Future Role of Nuclear Propulsion in the Military" (PDF). NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
- ^ "Planes That Never Flew, episode: The Atomic Bomber [Video title: The Nuclear Airplane]". YouTube. Discovery Channel. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ "Planes That Never Flew, episode: The Atomic Bomber [Video title: The Nuclear Airplane]". YouTube. Discovery Channel. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ HEARINGS BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEES OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON ATOMIC ENERGY CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES EIGHTY-FIFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON OUTER SPACE PROPULSION BY NUCLEAR ENERGY JANUARY 22, 23, AND FEBRUARY 6, 1958. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 1958.
- OSTI 4217328.
- ^ "SLAM – Radiation". Vought Aircraft Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
External links
- "The Flying Crowbar" Archived 2020-03-29 at the Wayback Machine from Air & Space magazine, April/May 1990, Volume 5, No. 1, page 28
- Vought SLAM entry in the Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles