CGM-13B Mace

History & service

A replacement for the TM-61A Matador, the Mace was a tactical surface-launched missile designed to destroy ground targets. Initially designated the TM-76, then the MGM-13, and finally the CGM-13B, the Mace could be launched from either a mobile trailer or a bomb-proof shelter. Like the Matador, a booster rocket launched the Mace, and a jet engine propelled it to the target.

Development of the Mace began in 1954, and the first test firing occurred in 1956. The first version of the Mace, the "A," employed a terrain-matching radar guidance system known as ATRAN (Automatic Terrain Recognition And Navigation) which matched the return from a radar scanning antenna was matched with a series of onboard radar terrain "maps." The guidance system corrected the flight path if it deviated from the maps. In the spring of 1959 the U.S.

Air Force deployed the "A" version in Europe, and they remained in service until the mid-1960s. Afterward, some became target drones because their size and performance characteristics resembled those of a manned aircraft.

Development of the "B" model began in 1959. In addition to having a jam-proof inertial guidance system, the CGM-13B had twice the range of the earlier version. Initial deployments of the CGM-13B to operational units started in 1961, and they remained operational in Europe and the Pacific until the early 1970s. The Mace "B" on display was based on Okinawa prior to its delivery to the museum in 1971.

Details that tell the story

Surface-to-surface cruise missile · Could carry conventional or nuclear warheads · Deployed in Europe and the Pacific

The aircraft in figures

Armament: Conventional or nuclear warhead · Engine: Allison J33 of 5,200 lbs. thrust; Thiokol solid-propellant booster rocket of 100,000 lbs. thrust · Maximum speed: 650 mph in level flight; supersonic in final dive · Range: 1,400 miles · Span: 22 ft. 11 in. · Length: 44 ft. 6 in. · Height: 9 ft. 7 in. · Weight: 18,000 lbs.

Readiness became a permanent condition

During the Cold War, aviation was organized around the possibility of a conflict that governments hoped to prevent. Bombers, missiles, interceptors, reconnaissance aircraft, warning networks, and tankers became parts of interdependent systems. Their value was judged not only by what they could do in flight, but by how reliably they could be maintained, alerted, launched, supported, and controlled.

This emphasis produced striking aircraft and difficult tradeoffs. Long range demanded fuel and support. High speed increased heat and mechanical stress. Sophisticated electronics offered new capabilities but created new maintenance requirements. A reconnaissance aircraft needed an effective camera and a workable route as well as altitude or speed. An interceptor depended on warning and guidance before its pilot could make an engagement.

The human experience included long periods of training and routine punctuated by crises. Crews and ground personnel practiced procedures whose purpose was to remain credible without being used in war. At the same time, military aviation carried out reconnaissance, transport, rescue, humanitarian missions, and conventional operations around the world. Linking these aircraft with civil airliners, research machines, and spacecraft reveals a history of shared technologies and different purposes. The machines embody technical accomplishment, but also the enormous resources and sustained human effort required to keep a global force ready.