The MGM-5 Corporal missile was a nuclear-armed tactical surface-to-surface missile. It was the first
guided weapon authorized by the United States to carry a
nuclear warhead
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. A guided
tactical ballistic missile
A tactical ballistic missile (TBM), or battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM), is a ballistic missile designed for short-range battlefield use. Typically, range (aeronautics), range is less than . Tactical ballistic missiles are usually ...
, the Corporal could deliver either a
nuclear fission
Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radio ...
, high-explosive, fragmentation or chemical warhead up to a range of .
It was developed by the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
in partnership with Caltech's pioneering
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
, and initially produced by
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...
.
As development continued production shifted to
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company is a tire company founded by Harvey Firestone (1868–1938) in 1900 initially to supply solid rubber side-wire tires for fire apparatus, and later, pneumatic tires for wagons, buggies, and other forms of wheeled ...
(airframe) and
Gilfillan Brothers Inc. (guidance).
The Corporal was designed as a
tactical nuclear missile
A tactical nuclear weapon (TNW) or non-strategic nuclear weapon (NSNW) is a nuclear weapon that is designed to be used on a battlefield in military situations, mostly with friendly forces in proximity and perhaps even on contested friendly territo ...
for use in the event of
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
hostilities in Western Europe. The first U.S. Army Corporal battalion was deployed in Europe in 1955. Eight Corporal battalions were deployed in Europe and remained in the field until 1964, when the system was replaced by the solid-fueled
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets fo ...
missile system.
The Corporal was the second in a series of JPL rockets for the US Army whose names correspond to the progression in Army enlisted ranks, starting with
Private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
before ultimately leading to the
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets fo ...
.
Design and development
![ROCKETS AND MISSILES R20468](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/ROCKETS_AND_MISSILES_R20468.jpg)
The U.S. Army Ordnance California Institute Technology (
ORDCIT) program that eventually produced the Corporal ballistic missile began in June 1944 with a contract to the
Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratories California Institute of Technology (GALCIT) to develop a ballistic guided missile. As the technology to build such a weapon did not exist in the United States it had to be created. GALCIT, later transformed into the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
(JPL), began incremental efforts starting with a solid-fuel rocket program called Private. It progressed to a liquid-fuel unguided rocket called
WAC Corporal
The WAC Corporal was the first sounding rocket developed in the United States and the first vehicle to achieve hypersonic speeds. It was an offshoot of the Corporal program, that was started by a partnership between the United States Army Ordn ...
, with a research missile variant (Corporal E) also under development. In late 1949 the Army desired to accelerate the Corporal program to create a military weapon by turning the Corporal E into a crash program. The resultant Corporal ballistic missile was developed by JPL and first flew in its weapon version at
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established as the White Sands Proving Ground on 9July 1945. White Sands National P ...
, New Mexico, on August 7, 1952.
The Corporal crash program involved utilizing as much existing equipment as it could including the WW II
SCR-584
The SCR-584 (short for '' Set, Complete, Radio # 584'') was an automatic-tracking microwave radar developed by the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II. It was one of the most advanced ground-based radars of its era, and became one of the ...
radar.
Corporal used a
liquid-fueled rocket
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high specific impulse (''I''sp). This allows the volume of the propellant ta ...
burning
red fuming nitric acid
Red fuming nitric acid (RFNA) is a storable oxidizer used as a rocket propellant. It consists of 84% nitric acid (), 13% dinitrogen tetroxide and 1–2% water. The color of red fuming nitric acid is due to the dinitrogen tetroxide, which breaks ...
(RFNA) and
aniline
Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine
In organic chemistry, an aromatic amine is an organic compound consisting of an aroma ...
; the exact mixture of fuel and oxidizer changed over the Corporal service period. From round 11 of the test program it became RFNA as oxidizer and a fuel consisting of
aniline
Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine
In organic chemistry, an aromatic amine is an organic compound consisting of an aroma ...
with
furfuryl alcohol
Furfuryl alcohol is an organic compound containing a furan substituted with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a colorless liquid, but aged samples appear amber. It possesses a faint odor of burning and a bitter taste. It is miscible with but unstabl ...
. As the Corporal was a crash program and constantly under development after 1958 to reduce decomposition of the RFNA and improve performance, the propellants were changed to IRFNA (inhibited red fuming nitric acid), , , and oxidizer, with aniline,
furfuryl alcohol
Furfuryl alcohol is an organic compound containing a furan substituted with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a colorless liquid, but aged samples appear amber. It possesses a faint odor of burning and a bitter taste. It is miscible with but unstabl ...
and
hydrazine
Hydrazine is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a simple pnictogen hydride, and is a colourless flammable liquid with an ammonia-like odour. Hydrazine is highly toxic unless handled in solution as, for example, hydrazine ...
as fuel. this required elaborate and time-consuming preparation immediately before launch, making its tactical responsiveness questionable.
Guidance for the Corporal consisted of a complex system of internal and ground guidance. During the initial launch phase,
inertial guidance
An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...
kept the missile in a vertical position and pre-set guidance steered it during its launch. The ground guidance system was a modified World War II SCR-584 radar which tracked the missile's position, as well as its slant range. This information was sent to an analog computer which calculated the trajectory and any necessary correction to hit the target. A Doppler radar was used to accurately measure the missile's velocity, and this information was also used in the trajectory calculation. The Doppler radar was also used to send the final range correction and warhead arming command after the missile re-entered the atmosphere. Transponder beacons were used in the missile to provide a return signal for tracking at maximum range. The vulnerability of the Corporal system was of concern from the beginning of the weapon program. Electronic anticountermeasures were addressed over the length of the program and would have been greatly improved in Corporal III. Though a variety of warheads from high explosive and fragmentation to chemical had been developed the warhead which the missile was equipped was the W-7 (Mk.7).
A Corporal battalion was composed of 250 men requiring 35 vehicles to deploy and took nine hours to set up the missile to fire once the launch position had been reached.
Corporal missile battalions in Europe were highly mobile, considering the large number of support vehicles and personnel required to support the transportation, checkout, and launch of this liquid-fueled nuclear-tipped (or conventional HE or chemical) missile. In Germany, frequent unannounced 'Alerts' were performed—necessitating assembling all personnel and moving vehicles and missiles to a pre-assigned assembly point. From there the battalion would move to a launch site—usually somewhere in a remote forest—set up the missile on its launcher and go through a detailed checkout of the various systems. This was not a trivial operation as these electronic systems were largely
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
s. A mock firing would be performed and the entire battalion would be gone as soon as possible in order to not be a target of counter-battery fire. The deployment in the field during an Alert was amazingly swift due to the highly trained crews.
For what was the first nuclear armed missile the Corporal I was significantly unreliable and inaccurate. The continuing development of the Corporal weapon system led rapidly to the development of the Corporal II. This was initiated while the Corporal I was still under development. Though Corporal I was deemed operable many shortcomings in both the missile and ground equipment tactical usability had become obvious during development. Engineer-User trials had shown that the primary reason for mechanical and electrical causes arose because the systems of the Corporal I were too delicate.
Problems detected in the E-U trials were addressed in the Corporal II. The Type II Corporal was subsequently improved in the Corporal IIa and IIb (M2A1) versions. The first Corporal II prototype was flown on October 8, 1953. The first complete Type II system was delivered in February 1955, The Type II Corporal greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of the missile system. When compared to other early missiles the final production Corporal II was reasonably accurate. Still the aggregate accuracy of all Type IIs with a
CEP (Circular Error Probable) of 350 meters which was still short of the desired 300 meters. The role of JPL was greatly reduced in 1955–56.
The deficiencies of the Corporal II led to the design and development of Corporal III. The objectives of Corporal III were to produce a much improved weapon system with improved reliability, ground support equipment, and especially ground guidance equipment, to provide the Army with a fully developed weapon. Only small changes to the Corporal IIb missile would be required. In 1956 all research and development work on the Corporal II had been completed. A study at Redstone Arsenal noted that the
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets fo ...
missile system would become available for service in 1963 and that Corporal III equipment should only be procured for additional Corporal units. Though a Type III Corporal was flown in 1957 it was too late for the eternally developing Corporal system.
On May 23, 1957 all work on the Corporal III was ended to conserve funds for Sergeant following defense budget cuts. In 1963 the solid-fueled Sergeant missiles with self-contained inertial guidance systems which was jamming proof, and which took only an hour from occupying the site to launch of the missile, started replacing the Corporal IIb in Europe. By June 1964 the Corporal system was history in American service.
In June 1966 the last Corporal unit, the 27th Guided Weapons Regiment
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
, retired its Corporals.
Introduction to service
![Radar Antenna-- Outer Hebrides](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Radar_Antenna--_Outer_Hebrides.jpg)
The first three Corporal battalions were activated in March 1952 with an Engineer-User launch program beginning in January 1953. In the same year the Corporal II system was sold to the United Kingdom. The extremely ambitious original goal of the Corporal program was to have 16 battalions of missiles deployed by July 1954. Two batteries of Corporal I had been organized and equipped by July 1954. The 259th Corporal Battalion deployed to Europe in February 1955. It was followed by other units and by 1960 there were six battalions in Germany, two in Italy and four in the United States. Live-fire training for Germany-based US forces took place at
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...
but later the British Royal Artillery Guided Weapons Range on the Scottish island of
South Uist
South Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Deas, ; sco, Sooth Uist) is the second-largest island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. At the 2011 census, it had a usually resident population of 1,754: a decrease of 64 since 2001. The island, in common with the ...
in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
was used. Missiles were fired toward designated target coordinates in the Atlantic Ocean. Radar on
Hirta
Hirta ( gd, Hiort) is the largest island in the St Kilda archipelago, on the western edge of Scotland. The names (in Scottish Gaelic) and ''Hirta'' (historically in English) have also been applied to the entire archipelago. Now without a perman ...
(the main island of the
St Kilda archipelago of Scotland) identified missile landing points. Frequently, Soviet
spy ship 'fishing trawlers' would intrude into the target area. The UK adoption of the Corporal resulted in the islet of
Rockall
Rockall () is an uninhabitable granite islet situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United Kingdom claims that Rockall lies within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its territory, but this claim is not recognised by Ireland. ...
being incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1955, the last addition to the UK, to prevent its use by Soviet observers: the UK
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
was concerned that, were they to do so, the Soviets might discover how to jam Corporal guidance and tracking radio signals.
Operators
;
*
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
,
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
**
27th Guided Weapons Regiment RA 1957–1966
**
47th Guided Weapons Regiment RA 1957–1965
;
*
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
**246th Missile Battalion (reflagged as
2nd Battalion 80th Field Artillery Regiment
The 80th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army.
Distinctive unit insignia
* Description
A Silver color metal and enamel device 1 3/32 inches (2.78 cm) in height overall consisting of a shiel ...
(
Fort Sill
Fort Sill is a United States Army post north of Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles (136.8 km) southwest of Oklahoma City. It covers almost .
The fort was first built during the Indian Wars. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark ...
))
**259th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
40th Field Artillery Regiment (
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of William Wallace Smith Bliss, LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President ...
))
**523rd Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
81st Field Artillery Regiment
The 81st Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army.
History Pershing
1st Battalion, 81st Field Artillery Regiment
The 1st Missile Battalion, 81st Artillery was formed at Fort Sill in 1963 and deployed to ...
(
Fort Carson
Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso, Pueblo, Fremont, and Huerfano counties, Colorado, United States. The developed portion of Fort Carson is located near the City of Colorado Springs i ...
))
**526th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
84th Field Artillery Regiment
The 84th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army.
History
Pershing
3rd Battalion, 84th Field Artillery Regiment
The 3rd Missile Battalion, 84th Artillery Regiment was formed at Fort Sill in 1963 and d ...
(Fort Sill))
**530th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
39th Field Artillery Regiment (Germany))
**531st Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
38th Field Artillery Regiment
The 38th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army.
History
On August 17, 1918, the 38th Field Artillery was organized as a regiment at Camp Lewis, Washington. It trained at that station until February 10 ...
(Germany))
**543rd Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion
82nd Field Artillery Regiment
82nd Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army. The regiment has been involved with American conflicts dating back to then US involvement in the Mexican Civil War and more recently with the War on Terrorism ...
(Italy))
**557th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 2nd Battalion 81st Field Artillery Regiment (Germany))
**558th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion 82nd Field Artillery Regiment (Germany))
**559th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 2nd Battalion 84th Field Artillery Regiment (Germany))
**570th Missile Battalion (reflagged as 1st Battalion 80th Field Artillery Regiment (Italy))
**601st Missile Battalion (reflagged as 2nd Battalion 40th Field Artillery Regiment (Germany))
Toys
A version of the Corporal was made as a
die-cast toy
A die-cast toy is a toy or a collectible model produced by using the die-casting method of putting molten lead, zinc alloy or plastic in a mold to produce a particular shape. Such toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber, glass, or other ma ...
by manufacturers such as
Corgi
The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is derived from the Welsh words and (which is mutated to ), mean ...
and
Dinky
Dinky may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dinky Toys, a brand of die-cast toy vehicles
* Dinky (film), a 1935 film starring Jackie Cooper
* Dinky Bossetti, protagonist of the 1990 film ''Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael'', played by Winona Ryder
...
. The Corgi Corporal, marketed to children as "the rocket you can launch", was timed to coincide with the British test firing in 1959.
A 1/40 scale plastic model kit of the Corporal missile with its mobile transporter was produced in the late 1950s and was reissued by
Revell
Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...
-
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...
in 2009.
A 1/48 scale plastic model kit of the Corporal missile with its launcher was produced in 1959 by
Hawk
Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...
and was reissued in 1969 in a glow in the dark version.
See also
*
Corporal E
The ORDCIT (US Army's Ordnance and California Institute of Technology) program to develop a ballistic missile called Corporal was a progressive one. The original design was called XF30L20,000 which envisioned a diameter liquid fueled missile with ...
*
List of U.S. Army weapons by supply catalog designation
This is a historic (index) list of United States Army weapons and materiel, by their Standard Nomenclature List (SNL) group and individual designations — an alpha-numeric nomenclature system used in the United States Army Ordnance Corps Supply ...
(SNL Y-3)
*
Frank Malina
Frank Joseph Malina (October 2, 1912 — November 9, 1981) was an American aeronautical engineer and painter, especially known for becoming both a pioneer in the art world and the realm of scientific engineering.
Early life
Malina was born in B ...
*
Private (missile)
*
WAC Corporal
The WAC Corporal was the first sounding rocket developed in the United States and the first vehicle to achieve hypersonic speeds. It was an offshoot of the Corporal program, that was started by a partnership between the United States Army Ordn ...
*
MGM-29 Sergeant
The MGM-29 Sergeant was an American short-range, solid fuel, surface-to-surface missile developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The missiles were built by Sperry Utah Company. The Sergeant was the third and last in a series of JPL rockets fo ...
*
List of U.S. Army Rocket Launchers by model number
This is a list of U.S. Army rocket launchers by model number. Launchers can be either tube-type or rail-type.
M number
Launchers
* M1 rocket launcher, 2.36 inch, solid tube shoulder mount. Bazooka
** A1 Simplified design with improved el ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*Army Ballistic Missile Agency (1961) ''Development of the Corporal: the embryo of the army missile program'' Vol 1. ABMA unclassified report, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
*Hansen, Chuck, "The Swords of Armageddon U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development since 1945, Volume VII, Chukelea Publications, Sunnyvale, CA, 1995
*MacDonald, F (2006) 'Geopolitics and 'the Vision Thing': regarding Britain and America's first nuclear missile', ''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers'' 31, 53–71. available for downloa
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Cold War nuclear missiles of the United States
Surface-to-surface missiles of the United States
Nuclear weapons of the United States
Nuclear artillery
MGM-005
Chemical weapon delivery systems
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s