A Table of Contents:

Design & manufacturing of Nike Ajax and Hercules:
Bell Telephone Labs, Douglas Aircraft, Western Electric.

Also see Maps of Nike sites
also Links to TerraServer, TopoZone, and GlobeXplorer Images of Nike Sites

GOOGLE EARTH a German Launcher site all German Nike sites all Italian Nike sites US Nike and related sites, mainland, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland (Tule) a German Launcher site In 2006, early versions of Google Earth came out - John Beaty sent me some GOOGLE EARTH based e-mail of his Nike site in Germany. Just load up GOOGLE EARTH and type in "49 37 42.12 n 7 17 28.42e" (with out the quotes), and there is his launcher area. And his e-mail had stick pins with his labels for the different buildings! I have no idea how to reproduce the stick pins for you. all German Nike sites Google Earth set up for German Nike sites (as of June 2007) by Rolf Dieter Görigk. You will need to have "Google Earth" loaded to view these. Spotted by Thomas Olson and Thomas Page all Italian Nike sites - from Tom Page, Jan 26, 2008 three Nike Hercules missile sites apparently are still inoperation, scheduled to be reconfigured very soon with Patriot PAC-3 missiles as part of the NATO Medium, Extended Air-Defense System (MEADS). This is per Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, 21 January 2008, page 21, column 1. The article does not say which Nike Hercules missile sites will receive Patriot PAC-3 missiles, but I'd guess it will be the three operational sites (i.e., Bovolone, Bagnoli, and Cordovado). This information piqued my curiosity, so I decided to take a look at the "Google Earth" aerial imagery to see which, if any, these Italian Nike missile sites were visible. Thanks to existing "Google Earth Community" placemarks, all sites were found easily. The placemarks also flagged two Nike Ajax missile sites not listed on Ed's website, plus quite a few HAWK missile batteries also not listed on Ed's website -- I suspect the Ajax sites and HAWK sites might have been Italian owned and operated (?), while the Hercules sites were originally U.S. Army owned and operated (?). Does anyone know if this is correct or not? Enclosed are two "Google Earth" .kmz files, one for the Nike Hercules and Ajax missile sites, and one for the HAWK missile batteries. (There might be still other Ajax and/or HAWK sites that I did not find placemarks for yet.) If I come across any others, I'll update the file. If anyone else finds others, let me know please. By the way, for reference, I included Aviano Air Base and the NATO CAOC / radar station at Poggio Renatico in the Nike missile .kmz file. US Nike and related sites, mainland, Hawaii, Alaska, Greenland June 2007, Thomas Page sent the following message and a .kmz file (Greenland added January 20, 2008. Updated April 2008 - "Unfortunately, this new high-resolution imagery [of Greenland] does not include the 'P' Mountain AC&W radar site {G-32} where the AADCP was, nor the BMEWS radar site." ) (Operator's note: on the left side of the Google Earth window is a little window called "Places". In there click on "Temporary Places", Then click on "US Nike Missile Sites", and then the defense area and Nike site you wish to find. ) The enclosed .kmz file requires "Google Earth" software, which may be freely downloaded from the "Google" website; "Google Earth" software in turn requires either the Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or Vista operating system to run. For those who might have an older version, an upgrade to the latest version of "Google Earth" software is highly recommended. [Click here to start GoogleEarth using Tom's .kmz file] (updated April 22, 2008) or if that doesn't work, try PageT-US-Nike-Missile-Sites.kml The placemarks are color-coded to readily distinguish the different types of sites -- red for missile-launch batteries, green for integrated fire-control (IFC) sites, blue for Nike Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) sites, and yellow for associated joint-use or USAF long-range radar sites. NORAD SAGE direction centers and SAGE combat centers are also included using separate symbology. It's all fairly self-explanatory. Note that the Nike sites are organized by defense area, not by state, and each defense area is in a separate directory (folder); I found it more logical and easier to organize the sites this way. The NORAD SAGE DC / CC sites are likewise in a separate directory (folder). In the enclosed .kmz file as saved, three Nike sites are not enabled, as they were "temporary" sites (as I understand): W-13T, B-35C, and B-22L. However, all three of these sites do have placemarks; they are just unchecked in the saved .kmz file -- one may easily open the respective directory (folder), and check the desired box ... or simply enable all. Finally, please note that some no-longer-extant Nike sites still have questionable locations. I used the best information I could from your website, Rings of Supersonic Steel (2nd Edition), USACE data, other notes, and terrain information on "Google Earth." If anyone sees any errors (or omissions), please bring them to my attention for correction -- thanks! Ed (and anyone else), I recommend making this .kmz file available on your website to aid other Cold-War "historians" who might have an interest in this subject. I guarantee the data will be useful to such persons. Thanks. Questions and comments are welcome. Thanks once again. -- Tom http://www.radomes.org/museum/

Please forward any GPS positional information to Ed Thelen and I will put it on this web page.
The format is Latitude first, then Longitude as in xx-xx-xx yy-yy-yy
Please use the Map Datum "WGS 84" - most GPS units are preset to this.

Aeral views of the sites ar And, the following is a typical of Microsoft TerraServer image of a Nike site.
DF-01 Dallas-Fort Worth site (Denton, Texas) control site), and launcher site, spotted by Scott Murdock

And on-line TopoMaps spotted by Tim Tyler
"Here's an UNCLAS example. It's zoomed in on the former Detroit Nike D-17 Sites. The "Area Vocational Sch" explains a little bit about the appearance of the former IFC compound ..."

Also, Donald E. Bender picked up on U.S. Army Corps of Engineer web pages in Alaska - Clicking on USACE in the description of sites below will link to the appropriate U.S. Army Corps of Engineer web page. These are currently in Alaska, but will be extended if/when more are found.

There was also a ring of Army radars around Chicago/Milwaukee

If you want a little fun, you can TerraFly about.

Please Note: Much of the following U.S. Nike site location and current status is taken from "Rings of Supersonic Steel" and used with the kind permission of the authors Mark A. Berhow and Mark L. Morgan. (The information is arranged here by states rather than defense areas as in the original.) Also see Update Contributors.

Please also note: the information on this page is a small sub-set of the information in the book, which also includes site by site information of active dates, equipment and changes, military unit(s), maps, Defense Area Headquarters and radars, HAWK sites and general remarks.

Mark Morgan continues to travel and to collect Nike/ARADCOM history.
"I'm looking for personal recollections from former ARADCOM and anti-aircraft personnel. Any location, any time from World War II to the present, any specialty." His (new) address is:

From Mark Morgan

... there were discrepencies in the ARADCOM site numbering system; my guess is it was a function of the site planning, survey and acquisition process. ARADCOM documents do put W-93 east of W-94. Another example can be found in the Boston Defense Area; B-85 Bedford is west of B-84 Burlington. In the Chicago Defense Area, C-93 Northfield/Skokie is south and slightly east of C-98 Fort Sheridan and east of C-94 Libertyville. Strange, but true. MK The names for the Nike sites were assigned by the Army and provided in the ARADCOM station listings of the period which formed much of the foundation for Rings. ... sometimes they didn't make complete sense.

And from Don Bender

Mark and gentlemen: Another notable discrepency in the site designation system is site NY-56 at Fort Hancock, NJ, which is EAST of sites NY-53 (Middletown) and NY-54 (Holmdel/Hazlet).

Sorted by Code rough sort on facility

Site Code	Defense Area, Comments	Site Code	Defense Area, Comments
...	Anchorage Defense Area (Alaska)	LA-nn	Los Angeles (California)
B-nn	Boston (Massachusetts)	LI-nn	Lincoln (Lincoln AFB) (Nebraska)
BA-nn	Baltimore (Maryland)	M-nn	Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
BD-nn	Barksdale (AFB) Louisiana	MS-nn	Minneapolis - St. Paul (Minnesota, Wisconsin)
BG-nn	Bergstrom (AFB) (Texas)	N-nn	Norfolk (Virginia)
BR-nn	Bridgeport (Connecticut)	NF-nn	Niagara Falls (merged with Buffalo in 1961) (New York)
BU-nn	Buffalo (merged with Niagara Falls in 1961) (New York)	NY-nn	New York (New York, New Jersey)
C-nn	Chicago (Illinois, Indiana)	OA-nn	Oahu (Pearl Harbor) (Hawaii)
CD-nn	Cincinnati-Dayton (Ohio)	OF-nn	Offutt (AFB) (Iowa, Nebraska)
CL-nn	Cleveland (Ohio)	PH-nn	Philadelphia (Penna. & N.J.)
D-nn	Detroit (Michigan)	PI-nn	Pittsburgh (Penna.)
DF-nn	Dallas-Fort Worth (Texas)	PR-nn	Providence (Rhode Island, Mass. )
DY-nn	Dyes (AFB) (Texas)	R-nn	Robins (AFB) (Georga)
E-nn	Ellsworth (Air Force Missiles?) (South Dakota)	S-nn	Seattle (Washington)
...	Fairbanks (Ft Wainwright & Eielson AFB) (Alaska)	SC-nn	Shilling AFB (- inactivated after 2 months) (Kansas)
F-nn	Fairchild (Fairchild AFB) (Washington)	SF-nn	San Francisco (Calif.)
H-nn	Hanford (Atomic "device" production) (Washington)	SL-nn	St. Louis (Ill. & Mo.)
HA-nn	Hartford (Connecticut)	T-nn	Travis (AFB) (California)
HM-nn	Homestead - Miami (after Cuban Missile Crisis) (Florida)	TU-nn	Turner (AFB) (Georgia)
KC-nn	Kansas City (Kansas, Missouri))	W-nn	Washington D.C. (Maryland, Virginia)
KW-nn	Key West (after Cuban Missile Crisis) (Florida)	WA-nn	Walker (AFB) (New Mexico)
L-nn	Loring (SAC bases) (Maine)	.	.

Site facility codes used are:
A - Admin facility
C - Control/IFC (integrated fire control
DC - Direction Center
H - Housing
L - Launcher Area
R - Radar facility
Site Status codes are
(I) - Intact; buildings, launch pads and possibly radar towers in place
(O) - Obliterated: all traces removed
(P) - Partial; some modifications or dismantling of buildings and launch facilities
My added codes are:
[ ... ] information sent to update/enhance the book's information
{name} contributor code, for Contributors details
*** - a headquarters.

For maps showing many of these sites, go to Maps showing Nike sites near U.S. cities

The following are firing batteries only - no area headquarters or radars listed. Sites that were surveyed but never built are not listed below.

Please note that the Nike defense system was ever changing during its life in the United States from 1954 until the "SALT" treaty in 1974 (1979 for Anchorage Alaska). Sites were constructed, equiped and manned, sites re-named, their units renamed, and sites were closed at a much higher rate than most people were accustomed to. (People tended to think that a military installation was as permanent as taxes, at least until recently.) Some of the reasons for the frequent changes were:

1. The much greater range and power of the Nike Hercules which started replacing the Nike Ajax in 1959 reduced the number of sites required to protect a given area with the same effectiveness.
2. Changing air defense priorities - example the Cuban Missile situation in October 1962 caused some re-location of some systems to quickly constructed above ground sites in Florida.
3. Changing manpower commitments - moved some Nike people to Vietnam.
4. Review of existing situations - such as the merging of the Buffalo and Niagara Defense Areas in 1961.
5. The ever changing funding situation from congress, such as the 1970 defense cut backs.

Asking permission

----- Original Message ----- From: - To: ed@ed-thelen.org Ed, I want to photograph the old Nike Site PH-58 in Swedsboro, NJ. I was wondering if you ever got permission to do that and who you contacted to get permission? Thank You - - The very few (maybe 8?) old Nike sites that I have photographed were on public land in California and Illinois - It is considered polite, and is often advantageous, to get permission from the owner. I am told of folks who gave folks much more complete tours, under pleasant conditions, than the usual "gorilla" sneak in and watch over your shoulder tactics. (If your not looking where your going your even more likely to get hurt.) There is even some self interest in a land owner giving you a nice tour and photo op. a) you the guest are less likely to bust in and get hurt and sue b) if you publish the photos, it is less macho for someone else to do a gorilla and getting hurt (I know that asking might not be as challenging, but I chose other challenges, and am now slowing, creaking and lazy ;-) I am CCing Mark Morgan who has visited many U.S. sites for his impressions In this case, easy way is often the best way ;-)) Ed Thelen

If you have comments or suggestions, Send e-mail to Ed Thelen

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Updated May 04, 2008