Description
TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/1 Nike-Hercules AN/MSA Guided Missile Director Station Technical Manual – December 1967
Item Overview
This original U.S. Army Technical Manual, TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/1, provides repair-parts and special-tools information for several trailer-mounted guided-missile director stations used with the Nike-Hercules Air Defense Guided Missile System. The manual covers the AN/MSA-19, AN/MSA-23, AN/MSA-23A, AN/MSA-23B, AN/MSA-25, AN/MSA-25A, AN/MSA-26, and AN/MSA-26A Director Stations. This December 1967 copy is a valuable reference for military collectors, museum staff, historians, and researchers studying Cold War air defense equipment.
Identification and Features
This manual belongs to the extensive TM 9-1430-250 series prepared for the Nike-Hercules Radar Course Directing Central. It was intended to help Army maintenance and supply personnel identify authorized repair parts and special tools for the director-station equipment. The manual supported organizational, direct-support, and general-support maintenance work.
- Manual Number: TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/1
- Date Shown on This Copy: December 1967
- Publication Type: Repair Parts and Special Tools List
- Maintenance Levels: Organizational, Direct Support, and General Support
- Equipment Type: Director Station, Guided Missile, Trailer Mounted
- Major Assembly: Radar Course Directing Central
- Weapons System: Nike-Hercules Air Defense Guided Missile System
- Director Stations Covered: AN/MSA-19, AN/MSA-23, AN/MSA-23A, AN/MSA-23B, AN/MSA-25, AN/MSA-25A, AN/MSA-26, and AN/MSA-26A
- Director-Computer Groups: OA-1479/MSA-19, OA-3284 series, OA-3330 series, and OA-3331 series
- Companion Publication: TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/2 Illustration Supplement
- Language: English
What This Manual Covers
TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/1 was prepared as the written repair-parts volume for the listed AN/MSA director stations. It contains the supply and maintenance information needed to identify authorized replacement components and special tools. The listed equipment includes the AN/MSA-19 with the OA-1479/MSA-19 director-computer group; the AN/MSA-23, AN/MSA-23A, and AN/MSA-23B with OA-3284-series groups; the AN/MSA-25 and AN/MSA-25A with OA-3330-series groups; and the AN/MSA-26 and AN/MSA-26A with OA-3331-series groups. The separately issued TM 9-1430-250-15P/4/2 provided the related parts illustrations.
The Nike-Hercules Air Defense Guided Missile System
Nike-Hercules was the second major missile developed under the U.S. Army’s Project Nike air-defense program. It followed the smaller Nike-Ajax and entered operational service in 1958. Nike-Hercules offered greater range, higher-altitude performance, and improved power against formations of enemy aircraft. Depending on the mission, the missile could carry a conventional or nuclear warhead. Nike batteries were placed around major cities, military bases, industrial areas, and other important locations during the Cold War.
How the Director Station Worked
The director station served as the control and computing center for the Nike-Hercules battery. Radar equipment first detected a target, while separate target-tracking and missile-tracking radars followed the aircraft and the launched missile. Position data from both radars entered the director station’s computer equipment, which calculated a predicted intercept point and produced steering information. Battery-control personnel used consoles, plotting equipment, recorders, and status indicators to monitor the engagement. Guidance commands were then sent through the missile-tracking radar to steer the missile and activate its warhead at the proper time.
History of Use
Nike-Hercules batteries protected the United States during some of the most tense years of the Cold War. The Army deployed 145 batteries, including many sites converted from the earlier Nike-Ajax system. The director stations covered by this manual supported different equipment versions as Nike-Hercules technology was updated. A manual used in 1967 would have supported the system during its main period of American service. Most Nike-Hercules sites in the continental United States closed by 1975, followed by the final sites in Alaska in 1978 and Florida in 1979. Several allied nations continued operating versions of the system into the early 1990s.
Historical Significance
This technical manual documents the maintenance and supply system behind one of America’s most important Cold War air-defense weapons. The director station combined human control, radar information, and electronic computing to guide a missile toward a distant target. Manuals of this type were working publications used to keep complex military electronics ready for service. Today, they provide valuable information about early guided-missile computing, Army maintenance practices, military radar technology, and the nationwide Nike defense network.
Condition
This listing is for the December 1967 technical manual only. Please check the pictures for the general condition of the item. No director-station equipment, computer assemblies, radar components, trailers, missiles, loose repair parts, illustration supplements, or additional publications are included unless specifically shown and stated.
Ideal For
This original military technical manual is well suited for collectors and organizations interested in Nike missile equipment, Cold War history, radar systems, early military computers, and U.S. Army technical publications.
- U.S. military technical-manual collectors
- Nike missile and Cold War historians
- Museums and restoration projects
- Military radar and electronics researchers
- Veterans and former air-defense personnel
- Educational and historical reference collections
Approx length 8", Approx width 10", Approx height 1", Approx weight 2lbs.
Pictures are stock images of our inventory. Unless otherwise noted, you will not be receiving the exact item shown in the pictures. The pictures are representative of the item’s general condition. The item you receive might be slightly better, or worse, condition than was shown in the pictures.
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