View source for SM-62 Snark

{{Infobox weapon
| is_missile         = yes
| name               = SM-62 Snark
| image              = [[Image:Snark rocket.jpg|300px|Snark missile launch]]
| type               = Surface-to-surface [[cruise missile]]
| caption            =
| origin             = United States
| used_by            = [[United States Air Force]]
| manufacturer       = [[Northrop Corporation]]
| unit_cost          =
| propellant         =
| production_date    = 1958–1961
| service            = 1959–1961
| engine             = 1 [[Pratt & Whitney J57]] jet engine; and 2 [[Aerojet]] [[solid-propellant rocket]] boosters
| engine_power       = J57 turbojet: {{convert|10500|lbf}} of thrust; booster rockets: {{convert|130000|lbf}} of thrust <!--each?-->
| weight             = {{convert|48150|lb}} without boosters; {{convert|60000|lb}} with boosters
| length             = {{convert|67|ft|2|in}}
| height             =
| diameter           =
| wingspan           = {{convert|42|ft|3|in|}}
| speed              = {{convert|565|kn|km/h mph}}
| vehicle_range      = {{convert|5500|nmi}}
| ceiling            = {{convert|50250|ft}}
| altitude           =
| filling            = [[W39 (nuclear warhead)|W39]] [[thermonuclear]] warhead (explosive yield: 3.8 [[TNT equivalent|megatons]])
| guidance           = [[astro-inertial guidance]] with design [[Circular error probable|CEP]] of {{convert|8000|ft}}.
| detonation         =
| launch_platform    = mobile launcher
}}

The [[Northrop Corporation|Northrop]] '''SM-62 Snark''' was an early  [[Range (aeronautics)|intercontinental range]] ground-launched [[cruise missile]] that could carry a [[W39 (nuclear warhead)|W39]] [[thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear warhead]]. Though the Snark was in training by the [[United States Air Force]]'s [[Strategic Air Command]] from 1958 through 1961, it was only deployed as an operational missile for less than a year during 1961. It represented an important step in weapons technology during the Cold War.<ref>[https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196745/northrop-sm-62-snark/ Northrop SM-62 Snark]. [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]]. May 29, 2015.</ref> The Snark was named by Jack Northrop and took its name from the author [[Lewis Carroll]]'s character the [[snark (Lewis Carroll)|"snark"]].<ref>Carroll and Gardner 1982, p. 97.</ref><ref name="Historian">''From Snark to Peacekeeper''. Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (1990).</ref>{{rp|1}} The Snark was the only surface-to-surface [[cruise missile]] with such a long range that was ever deployed by the U.S. Air Force. Following the deployment of [[Intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]]s, the Snark was rendered obsolete, and it was removed from deployment in 1961.

==Design and development==
[[Image:Snark.jpg|thumb|Display at the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]]]]
Project Mastiff, to create a missile for delivery for an atom bomb began immediately after the existence of the atomic bomb was revealed. Due to protracted security concerns of the Manhattan Project involving details of arming, fuzing, and detonating systems Project Mastiff was thwarted by security inhibitions invoked by the atomic weapons program. The Army Air Force's Project Mastiff became a years long "Fiasco"<ref name="Rosenberg">{{Cite book |last=Rosenberg |first=Max |url=http://archive.org/details/TheAirForceAndTheNationalGuidedMissileProgram |title=The Air Force And The National Guided Missile Program, 1944-1950 |date=June 1964}}</ref>{{rp|85}} Despite the failure of Project Mastiff the Army Air Force started a group of programs intended to create atomic bomb carrying missiles.

During the significant first decade of American strategic missile development the Air Force's attention was upon developing winged air-breathing missiles.<ref name="Lonnquestl">Lonnquest, John C., Winkler, David F. (1996). ''To Defend and Deter: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program''. U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, Illinois.</ref>{{rp|3}} The designations for individual programs changed numerous times due to changes in organizations, roles, fashion, and thus they are best known by their MX numbers.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|76}}
Following the end of WWII the Guided Missile Committee decided that the development of guided missiles should be shifted from the existing ad hoc programs in order to  concentrate upon basic research.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|57}} Northrop was selected to study two concepts, the sub-sonic MX-775A Snark, and the super-sonic [[SSM-A-5 Boojum|MX775B ''Boojum'']].<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|76}}  Defense budget cuts of what was called the "Black Christmas" of 1946 drastically reduced the number of Army missile programs.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|77}}  Few of those programs which survived resembled the later missiles which they eventually produced.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|79}}  Following the creation of the US Air Force in 1947 winged missile development was transferred to the USAF. In March 1947 the MX-775B Boojum supersonic 5,000-mile range and not the subsonic MX-775A Snark was the only Northrop program.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|79}}  By March 1948 the  MX-775A Snark was the preferred missile while the super-sonic MX-775B Boojum had been reduced in importance to a speculative prospect.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|117}} Further intense budgetary pressure in 1949 saw the USAF surface to surface missile program reduced to two programs of which one was the MX-775A Snark. By July 1950 the Snark program was further reduced to development of the guidance subsystem and creation of a guidance test vehicle.<ref name="Rosenberg" />{{rp|150}}<ref>Reed, Irving, The Dawn of the Computer Age, https://calteches.library.caltech.edu/4159/1/Computer.pdf, Engineering and Science, Caltech Magazine</ref> The guidance test missile was the Northrop N-25. Development of the heavy stellar navigation system intended for the N-25 Snark was very difficult and required many hundreds of hours of flight aboard aircraft.<ref name="AAHS">Werrell, Kenneth (1988). ''The  Case Study of Failure'' American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Fall 1988.</ref> Twenty-one flights of the N-25 missile occurred  at Holloman AFB, New Mexico between April 1951 and March 1952.<ref name="Werrell">Werrell, Kenneth (1985). ''The  Evolution of the Cruise Missile''. Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.</ref>{{rp|85}}

A new requirement for intercontinental range required a new, larger missile the design of which was deemed the B-62. The Northrop N-69 development vehicle, was originally powered by a J71 engine and in later variants a J57.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|86}}  Development missiles were equipped with landing skids to reduce program costs. While 10 of 25 N-25 missiles were recovered, only 11 of 39 N-69s were recovered.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|194}} As the available space for tests of an intercontinental ranged missile did not exist at Holloman, testing was moved to the Atlantic Missile Test Range at Cape Canaveral, Florida.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|86}} Test Snarks were recovered to a runway at the [[Joint Long Range Proving Ground]] which is still known as the "Skid Strip".<ref>Snark Lands on Skids With Little Damage, https://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19580421#!&pid=138, Aviation Week including Space Technology, McGraw-Hill, NY</ref> Facilities at Cape Canaveral were still being constructed and at the same time aerodynamic problems with the intended dive by the Snark on the target persisted, delaying development.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|194}}

The Snark, which was originally projected to become operational in 1953, suffered a protracted test program which involved significant redesigns.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|89}} Development of the Snark dragged on with many failures which caused wags to jest of the "Snark Infested Waters" off Cape Canaveral.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|92}} As the prospective operational date of the Snark slipped continuously into the future, [[Strategic Air Command]] (SAC) grew more skeptical of the missile. Criticism of the Snark grew from doubts by SAC in 1951 to serious objections in 1954.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|93}}  A high-level study by the Teapot Committee in early 1954 described the nascent Atlas ICBM project as beset by technical and administrative problems while advising that the ballistic missile offered the best means of delivering a thermonuclear weapon over intercontinental range.<ref name="Lonnquestl" />{{rp|37}}  Also in early 1954 the Strategic Missile Evaluation Committee concluded that the Snark was an "overly complex" and would not become operational until "substantially later" than scheduled.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|195}}

The failure of the Snark to achieve the necessary accuracy for the original W-8 nuclear weapon (striking within {{convert|1500|ft|m}} of target) was offset somewhat by the change to the much more powerful W-39-Y1 Mod 1 thermonuclear bomb (striking within {{convert|8000|ft|m}} of target).<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|93}}<ref name="Hansen">Hansen, Chuck (1988). ''U.S. Nuclear Weapons - The Secret History''. Aerofax, Arlington Texas. {{ISBN|0-517-56740-7}}</ref>{{rp|195}} Extensive flight testing, weight reduction efforts, an improved 24 hour stellar navigation system, and the addition of pylon fuel tanks below the wings to restore range capabilities eventually resulted in the N-69E Snark which became the prototype for the SM-62 Intercontinental Missile (ICM)<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|95}}

By late 1957 N-69E Snarks had complete two flights down range to Ascension Island, showing the Snark achieved an estimated [[circular error probable]] (CEP) of {{convert|17|nmi}}.<ref name="Cleary">Cleary, Mark C. (1990) ''The 6555th Missile and Space Launches Through 1970''. 45th Space Wing History Office, Patric AFB, Florida).</ref>{{rp|41}} By 1958, the celestial navigation system used by the Snark allowed its most accurate test, which appeared to fall {{convert|4|nmi|km}} wide of the target.<ref>{{cite book | last=Anderson | first=Fred | title=Northrop: An Aeronautical History | publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-5326-0356-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YEEDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 | page=132}}</ref> However, even with the decreased CEP, the design was notoriously unreliable, with the majority of tests suffering mechanical failure thousands of miles before reaching the target. Other factors, such as the reduction in operating altitude from {{convert|150000|to|55000|ft}}, and the inability of the Snark to detect countermeasures and perform evasive maneuvers also made it a questionable strategic deterrent.<ref name="Historian" />{{rp|2}} A total of 97 N-25, N69 and SM-62 Snarks tests were made between December 1950 and December 1960.<ref name="Cleary" />{{rp|42}}  SAC then changed requirements to require the launch of 20% of Snarks within 15 minutes of notification, 40% within 75 minutes, and all in four hours. A daunting requirement given the base design and requirements of the missile.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|198}}

In late 1957 SAC's 556 Strategic Missile Squadron launched its first N-69E to begin the Snark Employment and Suitability Test program.<ref name="Cleary" />{{rp|42}} In December 1957 the 556th Strategic Missile Squadron was activated and began training to launch operational SM-62 Snark Missiles. In January 1958, SAC began accepting delivery of Snark missiles at [[Patrick Air Force Base]] for training, and in 1959, the [[702d Strategic Missile Wing]] was formed. Snark launches for developmental purposes continued through 1958 but the training activities of the 556th were reduced. Training of Snark missile men at the Cape continued until December 1959.<ref name="Cleary" />{{rp|43}}

From December 1950 until December 1960 118 N-25, N-69 and SM-62 test flights were made.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|201–203}}

===Technical description===
{{unsourced section|date=October 2025}}
[[File:SM 62 Snark HAFB.jpg|thumb|Northrop SM-62 Snark, [[Hill Aerospace Museum]]]]
The [[jet engine|jet propelled]], {{convert|20.5|m|ft|order=flip|adj=on}} long Snark missile had a top speed of about {{convert|650|mph}} and a maximum range of about {{convert|5500|nmi|km}}. Its complicated [[celestial navigation]] system gave it a claimed [[circular error probable|CEP]] of about {{convert|8000|ft}}.

The Snark was an air-breathing missile, intended to be launched from a truck-mounted platform by two [[solid-fueled rocket]] booster engines. The Snark was propelled by an internal [[turbojet engine]] for the rest of its flight. The engine was a [[Pratt & Whitney JT3C|Pratt and Whitney J57]], which was the first jet engine featuring a thrust of {{convert|10000|lbf|abbr=on|lk=in}} or more.

Since the Snark lacked a horizontal tail surface, it used [[elevon]]s as its primary flight control surfaces, and it flew with an unusual nose-high angle during level flight. During the final phase of its flight, its [[H-bomb|nuclear warhead]] would have separated from its [[fuselage]] and then followed a ballistic trajectory towards its target. Due to the sudden shift in its [[center of gravity]] caused by separation, the fuselage would have performed an abrupt pitch-up maneuver in order to avoid a collision with the warhead. The resulting break-up of the missile's structure added clutter which confused enemy radar.

==Operational history==
[[Image:Northrop SM-62 Snark 061218-F-1234P-006.jpg|thumb|A photo sequence showing the warhead's separation sequence]]

In May 1957, a Detachment of Air Force instructors was formed at [[Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport|Amarillo Air Force Base]], Texas as the first cadre of Air Force personnel supporting an Intercontinental missile system. None of the detachment members had any previous training or experience in missile maintenance. They were trained at the Northrop factory in California and then returned to Amarillo to establish the training school for the Snark maintenance personnel.{{citation needed|date = April 2017}}

On January 1, 1959 the 702nd Strategic Missile Wing was activated at Presque Isle, Maine. On 27 May 1959, [[Presque Isle Air Force Base]], Maine, the only Snark missile base, received its first missile. It was ten months before the 702nd placed its first Snark on Alert on 18 March 1960. The first far superior Atlas D had already gone on Alert on October 31, 1957.<ref name="Alert">''Alert Operations and the Strategic Air Command, 1957-1991''. Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (1991).</ref>{{rp|5}} Exercises in 1960 indicated that only 20% of the missiles at Presque Isle met SAC standards of effectiveness.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|197}} Reliability improved over time with reliability achieving 95% in February 1961.<ref name="AAHS" />{{rp|197}}

The 702nd Wing was not declared to be fully operational until February 1961. A total of 30 Snarks were deployed to the USAF's first, and only, long-range cruise missile base.<ref name="Gibson">Gibson 1996, p. 151.</ref> The duration of the SM-62 in active service was brief before the reality which had haunted the program since the Teapot Committee caught up with it. In March 1961, President [[John F. Kennedy]] declared the Snark to be "obsolete and of marginal military value", and on 25 June 1961, the 702nd Wing was inactivated.<ref>[https://www.patrick.spaceforce.mil/?fsID=4516&page=1 "U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet: Development of the 45SW Eastern Rqnge."]  United States Air Force. Retrieved: 12 April 2012.</ref>

Many in the U.S. Military were surprised the Snark, due to its dubious guidance system, was ever operational. The most accurate of the seven full-range flights from June 1958 and May 1959 had fallen {{convert|4.2|nmi|m}} left of and {{convert|0.3|nmi|m}} short the target. In flight tests many were lost. A missile launched from Cape Canaveral in 1956 that was supposed to fly to Puerto Rico and back, flew so far off course that it was last seen on radar off the coast of Venezuela.  The wreckage of the wayward Snark missile was found in [[Northeast Region, Brazil|northeastern Brazil]] in 1983.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PrxRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8moDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1865%2C1254387 "Snark ignores Air Force 'orders'."] ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 8 December 1956. Retrieved: 6 January 2013.</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g5lVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MkANAAAAIBAJ&dq=snark%20found%20brazil&pg=6689%2C2748525 "Long-lost missile found."] ''The Leader-Post'', 15 January 1983. Retrieved: 6 January 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Documents/2004/December%202004/1204snark.pdf "The Day They Lost the Snark"] ''Air Force Magazine'', December 2004.  Retrieved: 17 August 2018.</ref> Many of those connected with the program commented in jest "that the Caribbean was full of 'Snark infested waters'."<ref>Zaloga 1993, p. 193.</ref> The Snark suffered from deficiencies in missile technology, design, and development  which delayed its entry into service until it had been overtaken by development of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The ICBM was capable of delivering the same thermonuclear weapon over the same distance much faster and without possibility of interception.<ref name="Werrell" />{{rp|103}}

[[Image:Northrop SM-62 Snark 061218-F-1234P-002.jpg|right|thumb|Aerial photo showing the Snark's nose-up attitude in flight]]

==Surviving missiles==

Five Snark missiles survive in museum collections.  They are located as follows:
* [[Air Force Space & Missile Museum]] at [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station]] at [[Cape Canaveral, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Snark|url=http://www.afspacemuseum.org/displays/Snark|website=Air Force Space & Missile Museum|publisher=Air Force Space and Missile Museum|access-date=4 October 2017|archive-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000507/http://www.afspacemuseum.org/displays/Snark/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] at [[Wright-Patterson Air Force Base]] in [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Northrop SM-62 Snark|url=https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit/Museum-Exhibits/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/196745/northrop-sm-62-snark/|website=National Museum of the US Air Force|access-date=4 October 2017|date=29 May 2015}}</ref>
* [[Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum]] in [[Ashland, Nebraska]], near Omaha.<ref>{{cite web|title=Missiles & Rockets|url=http://sacmuseum.org/what-to-see/aircraft/missiles-rockets|website=Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum|access-date=4 October 2017}}</ref>
* [[Hill Aerospace Museum]] at [[Hill Air Force Base]] in [[Ogden, Utah]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Northrop XSM-62A Snark|url=http://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/397182/northrop-xsm-62a-snark|website=Hill Air Force Base|access-date=4 October 2017|date=16 October 2008|archive-date=5 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005000402/http://www.hill.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/397182/northrop-xsm-62a-snark/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[National Museum of Nuclear Science & History]] near [[Kirtland Air Force Base]] in [[Albuquerque, New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Heritage Park|url=http://www.nuclearmuseum.org/see/exhibits/heritage-park/|website=The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History|access-date=4 October 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Aircontent
|similar aircraft=
* [[SSM-N-8 Regulus]]
* [[SM-64 Navaho|North American SM-64 Navaho]]
* [[SSM-N-9 Regulus II|Vought SSM-N-9 Regulus II]]
|lists=
* [[List of missiles]]
* [[List of military aircraft of the United States]]
|see also=
* [[MGM-1 Matador]]
* [[MGM-13 Mace]]
}}

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* ''Alert Operations and the Strategic Air Command, 1957-1991''. Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (1991
* Carroll, Lewis and Martin Gardner. ''Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark: The Annotated Snark''. London: William Kaufmann, 1982. {{ISBN|978-0-913232-36-1}}.
* Cleary, Mark C. ''The 6555th Missile and Space Launches Through 1970''. 45th Space Wing History Office, Patrick AFB, Florida. 1990
* Gibson, James N. ''Nuclear Weapons of the United States: An Illustrated History''. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1996. {{ISBN|0-7643-0063-6}}.
* Hansen, Chuck. ''U.S. Nuclear Weapons - The Secret History''. Arlington, Texas: Aerofax, 1988. {{ISBN|0-517-56740-7}}.
* "From Snark to Peacekeeper". Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (1990).
* Lonnquest, John C, and Winkler, David F. ''To Defend and Deter: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program''. Champaign, Illinois: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories/Defense Publishing Service, Rock Island, Illinois 1996.
* Rosenberg, Max. ''The  U.S. Air Force and The National Guided Missile Program 1944-1950''. USAF Historical Division Liaison Office, USAF, Washington D.C. 1988
* Werrel, Kenneth,  ''The  Case Study of Failure''.  American Aviation Historical Society Journal, Fall 1988
* Werrel, Kenneth,  ''The  Evolution of the Cruise Missile''.  Air University Press, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. 1985
* Zaloga, Steven J. "Chapter 5." ''Target America: The Soviet Union and the Strategic Arms Race, 1945–1964''. New York: Presidio Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-89141-400-2}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Northrop SM-62}}
* [https://www.airforcemag.com/article/1204snark/ The Day They Lost The Snark by J.P. Anderson, Air Force Magazine article about a Snark that was test-fired and rumored to have been found in Brazil]
* [https://archive.aviationweek.com/issue/19580421#!&pid=1 Snark Lands on Skids With Little Damage]
* [https://core.ac.uk/reader/46702260 The Dawn of the Computer Age]
* [https://nuke.fas.org/guide/usa/icbm/sm-62.htm Excellent article on the Snark on FAS.org]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=rt8DAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+mechanics+aircraft+carrier&pg=PA122 "Our First Guided Missileaires", ''Popular Mechanics,'' July 1954, detailed article on Snark and the USAF school to train personnel for it]

{{Northrop aircraft}}
{{USAF missiles}}
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{{USAF early missiles}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sm-62 Snark}}
[[Category:Cold War missiles of the United States]]
[[Category:Nuclear cruise missiles of the United States]]
[[Category:Cruise missiles of the Cold War]]
[[Category:Northrop aircraft|B-062]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1950s]]
[[Category:High-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Tailless aircraft]]