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The MGR-1 Honest John rocket was the first nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile in the US arsenal.〔The first nuclear-authorized ''guided'' missile was the MGM-5 Corporal.〕 Designated Artillery Rocket XM31, the first such rocket was tested 29 June 1951 and the first production rounds were delivered in January 1953. The designator was changed to M31 in September 1953. The first Army units received their rockets by year's end and Honest John battalions were deployed in Europe in early 1954. Alternatively, the rocket was designed to be capable of carrying an ordinary high-explosive warhead weighing , even though that was not the primary purpose for which it was originally envisioned. ==History and development== Developed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, Honest John was a large but simple fin-stabilized, unguided artillery rocket weighing in its initial M-31 nuclear-armed version. Mounted on the back of a truck, HJ was aimed in much the same way as a cannon and then fired up an elevated ramp, igniting four small spin rockets as it cleared the end of the ramp. The M-31 had a range of with a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead and was also capable of carrying a conventional warhead. Early tests exhibited more scatter on target than was acceptable when HJ was conventionally armed. Development of an upgraded Honest John, M-50, was undertaken to improve accuracy and extend range. The size of the fins was greatly reduced to eliminate “weathercocking” (the tendency of crosswinds to turn a rocket to face into the wind). Increased spin was applied to restore the positive stability margin that was lost when fin size was reduced. The improved M-50, with the smaller fins and more “rifling”, had a maximum range of 30+ miles with a scatter on target of only , demonstrating an accuracy approaching that of tube artillery. Honest John was manufactured by the Douglas Airplane Company of Santa Monica, California.〔Gibson, ''Nuclear Weapons of the United States'', pp. 177-179, 1996〕 The M31 consisted of a truck-mounted, unguided, solid-fueled rocket transported in three separate parts. Before launch they were assembled in the field, mounted on an M289 launcher and aimed and fired in about 5 minutes. The rocket was originally outfitted with a W7 variable yield nuclear warhead with a yield of up to and later a W31 warhead with three variants was deployed with yields of in 1959. There was a W31 variant of used in the Nike Hercules antiaircraft system exclusively. M-31 had a range between . In the 1960s Sarin nerve gas cluster munitions were also available for Honest John launch; designed to be interchangeable for use with the either Honest John or MGM-5 Corporal. Initially the M79 (E19R1) GB cluster warhead, containing 356 M134 (E130R1) bomblets for the M31A1C Honest John. The production model was the M190 (E19R2) GB cluster warhead, containing 356 M139 (E130R2) bomblets when the M31A1C was phased out in favor of the XM50 Honest John. Under nominal conditions it had an MAE of 0.9 square kilometers.〔Kirby,Reid, "The CB Battlefield Legacy", ''Army Chemical Review'' July–December 2006, pp. 25 - 29. ()〕 The two basic versions of Honest John were: * MGR-1A (M31) was long, had an engine diameter of , a warhead diameter of , a span of , weighed (nuclear), and had a maximum range of . The Hercules Powder Company X-202 rocket motor was long, weighed , and had average thrust.〔http://www.astronautix.com/articles/doulants/htm Bedard, ''Double Base Solid Propellants'', "Major Hercules Motors", p. 3, 2009〕 * MGR-1B (M50) was long, had an engine diameter of , a warhead diameter of , a span of , weighed (nuclear), and had twice the range of the M31. An improved propellant formulation gave the rocket motor thrust. Production of the MGR-1 variants finished in 1965 with a total production run of more than 7,000 rockets. Honest John’s bulbous nose and distinctive truck-mounted launch ramp made it an easily recognized symbol of the Cold War at Army bases world-wide and National Guard armories at home. Even though HJ was unguided and the first U.S. nuclear ballistic missile, it had a longer service life than all other U.S. ballistic missiles except Minuteman. The system was replaced with the MGM-52 Lance missile in 1973, but was deployed with NATO units in Europe until 1985 and National Guard units in the United States as late as 1982. Conventionally armed Honest John remained in the arsenals of Greece, Turkey and South Korea until at least the late 1990s. By the time the last Honest Johns were withdrawn from Europe in 1985, the rocket had served with the military forces of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark (non-nuclear), France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway (non-nuclear), South Korea, Taiwan (non-nuclear), and Turkey.〔General Dynamics, ''Free World Tactical Missile Systems'' (Pomona, CA: General Dynamics, June 1973) p.251; ''Jane's Weapon Systems 1987-1988'' (London: Jane's, 1987) p.127.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「MGR-1 Honest John」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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