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Pershing I Nose Cone
Display location: History Center
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The Pershing I (MGM-31A) nose cone was built by Martin Company and carried a W-50 warhead with a variable yield of 60, 200 or 400 kilotons.
The Pershing I was the first solid fuel Medium Range Ballistic Missile to be deployed by the U.S. Army. The Pershing was named after General "Black Jack" Pershing, General of the Armies. The replacement for the Redstone MRBM, it was the Army's big stick until the deployment of the Pershing II in 1958.
With
the Sergeant (SSM) missile program well underway, in mid-1956 the
Army began a study to determine the feasibility of a solid fueled
MRBM. A few months later, however, on 26 November 1956, Secretary of
Defense Wilson restricted the range of Army missiles to 200 miles.
Regardless of this change in policy, research into a 400 mile range
missile continued, and by late 1957 it was determined that such a
missile was possible. That same year the range restriction was
rescinded, allowing the Army to begin full-scale development in
January of 1958.
Two months later the Martin Aircraft company was
issued the development contract for the Pershing missile.
Development of the Pershing was very short by most standards. After just two years of research, in January 1960 flight testing of the Pershing began. In these early test flights only the first stage was live, the second stage being a dummy. Eight months later the first two-stage flight was completed.
The nose cone came from an entire Pershing I missile that was once on display (left) in the museum rocket garden.
Moving
the restored nose cone into the History Center (right) required a
lot of planning, time and muscle. In its final position, the nose
cone passes through the drop ceiling grid and reaches to within a
few inches of the roof.