Photographed on July 19, 1957, the first and only live test of a USAF Genie rocket with a nuclear warhead is shown in the video in this post, which was carried out by a USAF Northrop F-89J Scorpion
The video in this post shows a US Air Force (USAF) Northrop F-89J Scorpion carrying out the first and only live test of a USAF Genie rocket equipped with a nuclear warhead on July 19, 1957.
According to This Day In Aviation “On Friday morning, July 19, 1957, a United States Air Force Northrop F-89J Scorpion interceptor, serial number 53-2547, flown by Captain Eric W. Hutchison, Pilot, and Captain Alfred C. Barbee, Radar Intercept Officer, launched a Genie MB-1 unguided rocket at an altitude of 18,500 feet (5,640 meters) over NTS Area 10.
“The rocket accelerated to Mach 3 and traveled 2.6 miles (4,250 meters) in 4.5 seconds when, at 07:00:04.6 a.m., Pacific Daylight Savings Time (14:00 UTC), its W-25 warhead was detonated by a signal from a ground station. The resulting explosive yield was 1.7 kilotons.”
For the Air Defense Command, Northrop created the F-89 as an all-weather fighter-interceptor. The F-89 could find, intercept, and kill enemy aircraft day or night in any weather, with the radar operator in the back seat guiding the pilot. The first F-89 took to the air for the first time in August 1948, and the Air Force started receiving them in July 1950. For the Air Force, Northrop produced 1,050 F-89s in all.
As the first fighter-interceptor for the Air Defense Command to carry nuclear weaponry, Northrop modified 350 F-89Ds into J models. The F-89J’s cruising speed was 465 mph, and it was powered by two Allison J35 engines, each of which had an afterburner and could provide 7,200 pounds of thrust.
For use against enemy bomber formations, the air-to-air AIR-2A Genie rocket has a nuclear warhead. It is propelled by a solid-propellant rocket motor and has no guiding system. The AIR-2 (formerly known as the MB-1) was test-launched for the first time in 1956 and went into service in January 1957.
Interceptor planes like the F-89J, F-101B, and F-106A were principally used to transport the AIR-2A. Before manufacture ceased in 1962, thousands were constructed for the USAF; they were still in use until the mid-1980s. The ATR-2, a training version of the Genie without a nuclear warhead and with an inert rocket motor, was also in use.
Photo by U.S. Air Force