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Regulus 1

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Regulus 1 Credit: via Andreas Parsch

AKA: RGM-6;SSM-N-8;W5. Status: Retired 1964. Payload: 1,810 kg (3,990 lb). Thrust: 293.20 kN (65,914 lbf). Gross mass: 6,584 kg (14,515 lb). Height: 10.06 m (33.00 ft). Diameter: 1.40 m (4.50 ft). Span: 6.40 m (20.90 ft). Apogee: 12 km (8 mi).

Vought received a contract from the US Navy in June 1946 to develop Regulus, a 320 km (200 mile) range nuclear-armed subsonic cruise missile. The Navy had considered using the Loon, a derivative of the German V-1, for the role, but it couldn't carry the heavy weight of early atomic bombs. Regulus was turbojet-powered, and zero-launched by solid-rocket boosters from surface ships or surfaced submarines. It used a clumsy guidance system, being remote-controlled by aircraft or ships deployed along the flight-path. Three controllers on different platforms would have to guide the missile on a typical mission. First flight was in March 1951, first shipboard launch in November 1952, and first submarine launch in July 1953. Operational in 1954, by 1957 Regulus was deployed aboard 10 Essex-class carriers, 4 destroyers, and 2 submarines. Eventually purpose-built submarines were built for Regulus, but the enormous hangars for the missile made them draggy and noisy. Deployment of the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile made Regulus completely obsolete, and they were withdrawn from service in 1964. Surplus missiles were converted into target drones.

Development Cost $: 21.100 million. Recurring Price $: 0.267 million in 1958 dollars. Flyaway Unit Cost 1985$: 0.267 million in 1958 dollars. Maximum range: 810 km (500 mi). Number Standard Warheads: 1. Standard warhead: W5. Warhead yield: 47 KT. Boost Propulsion: Solid rocket. Maximum speed: 970 kph (600 mph). Initial Operational Capability: 1954. Total Number Built: 514.

Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

Vought SSM-N-8-RGM-6 Regulus

The Regulus was the first strategic long-range nuclear-armed guided missile deployed by the U.S. Navy.

After using bomb-equipped remotely controlled target drones to strike heavily defended targets in late 1944, the Navy's development of proper surface-to-surface missile systems began in 1946. Initially, it was planned to use a variant of the USAAF's JB-2 Loon (a V-1 look-alike cruise) missile as a ship-submarine-launched weapon, to be designated KGW-1. However, it soon became obvious that Loon was ill-suited as a tactical weapon, and it was used instead as a research vehicle (designated KUW-1, and later LTV-N-2) to test guidance and launching principles between 1947 and 1950. The Vought company was originally tasked to develop a short-range SSM, but Vought instead proposed a 320 km (200 mile) range missile, which was accepted by the Navy. In June 1946 the Navy awarded Vought a contract to develop the SSM-N-8 Regulus guided missile.

The Regulus was a turbojet-powered cruise missile, which could be launched by solid-rocket boosters from surface ships or surfaced submarines. It used a radio-command guidance system, and the missile was remotely-controlled for the whole flight by ground stations, aircraft, or ships along the flight-path. The usual procedure for a maximum range flight was that control was handed over from one controller to the next up to 3 times.

The XSSM-N-8 Regulus flight test vehicles had a retractable landing gear to make the missile reusable. The first flight of an XSSM-N-8 occurred in Marc 1951, the first shipboard launch succeeded in November 1952, and the first submarine launch was done in July 1953 by the USS Tunny. At about the same time, the SSM-N-8 Regulus was renamed as Regulus I, to distinguish it from the forthcoming SSM-N-9-RGM-15 Regulus II.

In May 1954, the Regulus I was declared operational. The tactical missiles, designated SSM-N-8a, were of course not equipped with a landing gear, the space being used for additional fuel. A visible difference between the SSM-N-8 and the SSM-N-8a was the slightly bulged chin of the SSM-N-8a, which was necessary to provide a common warhead section for the W-5 and W-27 nuclear warheads. By 1957, 16 ships (10 Essex-class carriers, 4 destroyers, and 2 submarines) were equipped to launch the Regulus. Additionally, many more submarines were equipped with Regulus guidance equipment.

Landing gear equipped Regulus rounds continued to be used as training missiles and target drones, with the designations SSM-N-8 (training) and KDU-1 (target).

The Regulus I had severe inherent shortcomings. A launching submarine had to surface and sit dead in the water, the guidance method was very susceptible to electronic jamming, and the missile itself flew at subsonic speeds, making interception relatively easy. In 1960, Regulus I was no longer used on carriers (it had never been popular, being regarded as a competitor to manned aircraft), but the submarine force had increased to five ships. However, at that time the UGM-27 Polaris SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile) system became operational, which rendered the Regulus completely obsolete.

In 1963, shortly before retirement, the Regulus I was redesignated in the RGM-6 series as follows:

The last Regulus submarine was retired in 1964, and many missiles were converted into BQM-6C targets afterwards. In total, about 500 Regulus I missiles of all types were built.

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for SSM-N-8a (RGM-6B):

[1] Norman Friedman: "US Naval Weapons", Conway Maritime Press, 1983
[2] Bill Gunston: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles", Salamander Books Ltd, 1979
[3] James N. Gibson: "Nuclear Weapons of the United States", Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1996
[4] Vought Heritage Museum Website