Hermes-A3B (XSSM-A-16)

Description:

• The Hermes was the U.S.'s first major ballistic missile program and was to encompass several different configurations and tested both liquid, solid-fuel rocket, and ramjet propulsion systems. They included the small A-1, based on the German surface-to-air Wasserfall missile of World War II; the Hermes II which was a captured V-2 modified to test a ramjet propulsion system inserted in a horizontal wing on top of the rocket; the Bumper, consisting of a captured-V-2 and an American WAC-Corporal as a second stage, as the U.S.'s first large-scale two-stage liquid-fuel rocket combination; the Hermes RV-A-10, this country's first large-scale solid-fuel test rocket; the Hermes A-3-B; and the Hermes C1, renamed the Redstone rocket.
• Most of the Hermes rockets. including the A-3B, therefore had a basic configuration of the V-2. The initial phase of the U.S. Army's Ordnance-General Electric sponsored Hermes program also included the firing of captured V-2 rockets in order for the Americans to learn German technology and know-how directly.
• The Hermes A-3, dating from the late 1940's, was designed as a tactical surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying a 1,000 lb warhead to a 150 mile range, although it never achieved that range in practice.
• The Hermes A-3, also designated XSSM-A-16, shown on picture is probably the only one of its type in existence and was donated in 1991 by the Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama. This rocket lacks its original engine.

History:

• The General Electric Co. was the prime contractor for the Army in all the Hermes rockets, including the A3-B. The design for the Hermes A-3B was set in the Fall of 1947. It was basically an enlarged version of the first in the Hermes series, the Hermes A-1, and larger and more powerful than the Hermes A-3A. (Compared with the dimensions given above for the A-3B, the A-3A was 28.7 ft long, with a diameter of 40 in., loaded weight of 8,340 and thrust of 18,000 lbs.) Both the A-3A and A-3B used the same propellants as in the V-2, liquid oxygen and alcohol which, like the V-2, were fed into the combustion chamber by a hydrogen peroxide-powered geared turbopump.
• The development of the A-3B missile progressed slowly but accelerated upon the outbreak of the Korean War in 1951. By 1953-1954 seven of the smaller A-3A's and six A-3B's had been test launched at the Army's White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, five successfully.
• The overall results of the A-3 series were not considered highly successful but still invaluable towards the future development of large-scale missiles in the U.S. The A-3 series contributed towards: the development of a highly reliable rocket propulsion system with the highest specific impulse (measurement of rocket efficiency) of the time; and the development of a highly accurate radio inertial guidance system.
• The important Hermes program, from which much basic rocket technology was learned, was canceled on December 31, 1954.

Hermes-A3B rocket

Comparation Hermes-A1, A-3A and A-3B

Technical Data:

Launch List: