1 Air Division

The Matador - Assorted Sources


[TM-61C Matador]

Martin TM-61C Matador


The Matador was a surface tactical missile designed to carry a conventional or a nuclear warhead.  Originally designated as the B-61, the US Air Force's first "pilotless bomber", it was similar in concept to the World War II German V-1 "buzz bomb". The Matador was launched by a booster rocket from a mobile 40-foot trailer and was controlled electronically from the ground during flight. Immediately after launch, the booster rocket fell away and the missile continued on course to target powered by its jet engine.

Development of the Matador began in August 1945 and the XB-61 was first launched on January 9, 1949. Operational TM-61s which later followed were the first tactical guided missiles in the USAF inventory. The first Pilotless Bomber Squadron (Light) was organized in October 1951 for test and training purposes and in March 1954 the first Matador unit was deployed overseas to bolster NATO forces in West Germany.

More than 1,000 Matador cruise missiles were produced and deployed between 1955 and 1961. The missile carried a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead with a yield of 11-47 kilotons. Martin delivered the 1,000th Matador in mid-1957, but in 1959 a phase-out of the Matador began in favor of a more advanced version, the "Martin Mace".

SPECIFICATIONS:
 
Span:  27 feet, 11 inches
Length:  39 feet, 8 inches
Height:  9 feet, 8 inches
Weight:  13,593 lbs.
Armament:  Conventional or nuclear warhead
Engines:  Allison J-33 with 4,600 lbs. of thrust; Aerojet solid-propellant booster rocket with 57,000 lbs. of thrust
Cost:  $132,000
 
PERFORMANCE:
 
Maximum speed:  600 mph (level flight; supersonic during final dive)
Range:  690 miles
Service Ceiling:  44,000 feet

[Top Secret]

How many of us at 2 Wing were even aware of nuclear missiles being in Europe in the early 1950s?



Click on the description text to view the photograph.
  1. Practice launch of a TM-61C Matador - 1960.
    Courtesy Joseph Snyder.

  2. Blast shield installed to divert the jet blast and to prevent damage to the farmers crops that surrounded the missile site - 1960.
    Courtesy Joseph Snyder.

  3. Matador TM-61C on its launch pad - 1957.
    Courtesy Paul Yadon.

  4. Matador TM-61C test launch - 1957.
    Courtesy Bob Jackson.

  5. The Matador missile on display at Trier Germany - 2 April 1955.
    The unanswered question. What was an RCAF Cpl doing in Trier Germany at a Matador missle display in April 1955?
    Courtesy Heather Hay.

  6. A closer view of a Matador missile on display at Trier Germany - 2 April 1955.
    Courtesy Heather Hay.



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Updated: July 5, 2004