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The Northrop SM-62 ''Snark'' was an early-model intercontinental range ground-launched cruise missile that could carry a W39 thermonuclear warhead. The Snark was deployed by the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command from 1958 through 1961. It represented an important step in weapons technology during the Cold War.〔http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4289〕 The Snark took its name from the author Lewis Carroll's character the "snark".〔Carroll and Gardner 1982, p. 97.〕 The Snark missile was developed to present a nuclear deterrent to the Soviet Union and other potential enemies at a time when Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) were still in development. 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 ICBMs, the Snark was rendered obsolete, and it was removed from deployment in 1961. ==Design and development== Work on the project began in 1946. Initially there were two missiles designed—a subsonic design (the MX775A ''Snark'') and a supersonic design (the MX775B ''Boojum'').(From the same poem: "The snark ''was'' a boojum, you see."〔Carroll and Gardner 1982, pp. 14, 53.〕) Budget reductions threatened the project in its first year, but the intervention of Air Force General Carl Spaatz and the industrialist Jack Northrop saved the project. Despite this, its funding by Congress was low, and this program was dogged by changes in specifications. The earliest planned due date in 1953 passed with the design still in development, and the Strategic Air Command was gradually becoming less supportive of it. In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered that top priority be assigned to ICBMs and their associated guided missile programs. Despite considerable difficulties with the development of the Snark, and reservations from the Department of Defense towards it, the engineering work continued.〔("Video: Arctic Sentinels. Building Rushed on Radar Defense, 1956/04/09." ) ''Universal Newsreel,'' 1956. Retrieved: 20 February 2012.〕 In 1957, tests of the Snark showed an estimated circular error probable (CEP) of just 17 nautical miles (31.5 kilometers). By 1958, the celestial navigation system used by the Snark allowed its most accurate test, which appeared to fall four nautical miles (7.4 km) short of the target. However, this apparent failure was at least partially caused by the British Navigation Charts used to determine the position of Ascension Island being based on position determinations less accurate than those used by the Snark. The missile landed where Ascension Island would be found if more accurate navigation methods had been used when developing the chart.〔"Personal interview with George F. Douglas, Chief Project Engineer, c. 1967"〕 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 150,000 to 55,000 feet (46,000 to 17,000 meters), and the inability of the Snark to detect countermeasures and perform evasive maneuvers also made it a questionable strategic deterrent. 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「SM-62 Snark」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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