Russia was outraged when an F-89 fighter launched a “mini” nuclear bomb rocket.

Summary and Key Points: On July 19, 1957, the U.S. Air Force tested the MB-1 Genie, a nuclear air-to-air rocket, by launching it from an F-89J Scorpion over Yucca Flats, Nevada.

-Part of the Plumbob John series, this test demonstrated that Genie could shoot down approaching bombers.

-Although it was never used in combat, the genie mounted on several interceptors and its installation served as a prime example of nuclear defense strategy throughout the Cold War. Advances in missile technology led to the retirement of Genie in 1988.

F-89J Scorpion and the Nuclear Genie: A Cold War Tale

Beginning in 1957, 350 F-89D aircraft were converted to the F-89J variant, which was capable of supporting two 820-pound Genie rockets under its noticeable fuel tanks on the wingtips.

On July 19, 1957, five Air Force officers gathered in the open desert of the Nevadan Yucca Flats and watched a jet fighter fly overhead with uneasy smiles on their faces. George Yoshitake, a civil defense photographer with a baseball cap, accompanied them.

Their concern was the Northrop F-89J Scorpion, a radar-equipped two-seat air defense interceptor intended to shoot down Soviet nuclear bombers before they dropped their deadly payloads on America.

The only alternative available to the conventional F-89D configuration was to use a heavy battery of unguided folding-fin rockets carried in the wingtip pods. These would be automatically launched in a huge volley once the Scorpion’s radar gunsight determined it was aligned with a bomber target.

However, the new F-89J carried a completely different and more lethal payload: a rocket that was more than three meters long and tipped with a 1.5 kiloton nuclear W25 bomb. The rocket was once known as MB-1 Genie and was renamed AIR-2A and colloquially called “Ding Dong”.

For this reason, one of the escorting aircraft was a bomber modified to collect samples from nuclear air tests, the WB-57D Canberra.

Captain Alfred Barbee activated the weapon’s solid-fuel rocket engine at the end of the countdown, and the Genie moved forward, traveling at three times the speed of sound during a two-second burn of the motor.

You can see the blast as it was viewed from Ground Zero in this famous recording.

Yoshitake, a photographer, later described how people stood between 16,000 and 20,000 feet below Ground Zero as they happily exchanged celebratory cigars (sources differ). Upon further investigation, it was found that they did not absorb any negative effects.

The test, which was part of the Plumb John series of nuclear tests, was actually intended to reassure the public about the safety of specialized air-to-air nuclear weapons used in air defense patrols of North American airspace. next three years. (It is uncertain whether the cancer diagnoses received by all six test participants were related to the nuclear test.)

Fighters demonstrated their ability to inflict serious casualties on formations of bombers during World War II, but were unable to completely neutralize them. However, the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki proved it took only one bomber getting through to devastate an entire city with a nuclear weapon.

This new reality made short-range weapons seem impossible, so the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) relied on beyond-visual-range missiles to strike bombers from afar.

However, in the early stages of development, the technology was needed to accurately target the aircraft at such great distances. Although the first AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles were deployed in the mid-1950s, they were only short-range weapons that needed to be fired from the rear of enemy aircraft so that their seekers would travel on hot engine exhaust. This made it difficult to quickly eject inbound bombers coming at us.

The Douglas Aircraft Company suggested an alternative strategy when early radar-guided air-to-air missiles were being developed: why not launch an unguided rocket carrying nuclear weapons at enemy bombers? Then precise technology will not be needed.

This strategy was like throwing a grenade into a pond instead of using a fishing hook; In theory it was fast and efficient, but it could also be dangerous and unsanitary because it involved delivering hundreds of nuclear warheads to interceptor units located around the country, which posed a significant security risk.

However, the “taboo” surrounding the use of nuclear weapons was not yet fully developed in the 1950s. Military strategists expected that nuclear weapons, regardless of size, would be widely used for a variety of purposes on all possible platforms. The military has created “pantomic divisions” with rocket artillery, nuclear-capable weapons, and even “nuclear bazookas,” which are really recoilless guns under the command of junior commanders. Nuclear torpedoes were developed for use both against and against submarines.

Given the enormity of the stakes, a nuclear-powered air-to-air rocket did not seem beyond the realm of possibility. With a destructive radius of 300 meters, a genie explosion could theoretically destroy an entire bomber structure; But, in reality, it is becoming more and more common to launch individual aircraft from different vectors.

Beginning in 1957, 350 F-89D aircraft were converted to the F-89J variant, which was capable of supporting two 820-pound Genie rockets under its noticeable fuel tanks on the wingtips. However, the F-89J may already be equipped with four AIM-4 radar-guided missiles, which it can use if it decides not to go nuclear. Although no longer in the Air Force, the Scorpions served in Air National Guard units for another ten years after their retirement in 1959.

Meanwhile, when production ceased in 1962-1963, more than 3,150 genies had been built. Douglas also produced a training model (ATR-2A) that was not equipped with nuclear weapons, and an improved version with a longer-lasting motor, probably extending the model’s range.

Subsequently, the Genie was modified for use on the fast single-seat F-106 Delta Darts and the supersonic F-101 two-seat interceptors. Both variants can carry conventional AIM-4 missiles and two genies in the internal weapons bay. Nuclear weapons only fire as a safety precaution when a sensor determines that their carrier has reached greater altitude and velocity.

As this amazing picture shows, they tested Jenny rockets with harmless warheads, but none of these planes ever fired a missile. Although not selected, the Genie was also evaluated for the F-102 Delta Dart, F-104 Starfighter, and British Electric Lightning Interceptors.

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