Historic California Posts, Camp, Stations and Airfields
Los Angeles Defense Area Sites LA-70/73
 
 
The Los Angeles Defense Area Site LA-70 consisted of 29.30 acres fee and a lease over 56.56 acres acquired 8 December 1954. Site LA-73 consisted of 10.87 acres fee acquired 19
September 1955. The combined sites totaled 96.73 acres. Site LA-70 directly adjacent to LA-73.

Following acquisition, administration buildings and launchers were built in 1956. An athletic court and a paint and oil storage shed were built in 1959.

In 1966 the property was reported excess to the needs of the military. By quitclaim deed dated 16 Decernber 1971, the 40.17 acres fee were conveyed to the City of Los Angeles. The deed
restricted use of the site to airport purposes and contained a recapture clause. The deed also required the grantee to maintain the land and improvements for the use and benefit of the public,
with maintenance to the improvements only during their useful life as determined by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. The lease over 56.56 acres was terminated. There was no restoration provision.
 
Army and Army National Guard units at LA-70:
 
 
Army and Army National Guard units at LA-73:
 
 
 
 
Source: Los Angeles District, US Army Corps of Engineers, History compiled in 1999.
 

The Western Electric SAM-A-7/M1/MIM-3 Nike Ajax

The Nike Ajax was the world's first operational surface-to-air guided missile system. Its origins lay in the immediate post-war time, when the U.S. Army realized that guided missiles were the only way to provide air-defense against future fast high-flying bombers. Western Electric became the prime contractor for the XSAM-G-7 Nike missile system and Douglas as the primary subcontractor was responsible for the missile airframe.

The first unguided Nike missiles were fired in 1946, but problems with the original multi-rocket booster (eight solid-fuel rockets wrapped around the missile tail) soon led to delays in the program. In 1948, it was decided to replace this booster pack with a single rocket booster, attached to the back of the missile. The main propulsion of the missile was a Bell liquid-fueled rocket motor, and the flight path was controlled by the four small fins around the nose. In November 1951, the first successful interception of a QB-17 target drone succeeded. The first production Nike (which had been redesignated SAM-A-7 in 1951) flew in 1952, and the first operational Nike site was activated in 1954. By this time, the missile had been designated by the Army as Guided Missile, Anti-Aircraft M1. The name had changed to Nike I, to distinguish it from the Nike-B (later MIM-14 Nike Hercules) and Nike II (later LIM-49 Nike Zeus). On 15 November 1956, the name was finally changed to Nike Ajax.

The Nike Ajax missile used a command guidance system. An acquisition radar called LOPAR (Low-Power Acquisition Radar) picked up potential targets at long range, and the information on hostile targets was then transferred to the Target Tracking Radar (TTR). An adjacent Missile Tracking Radar (MTR) tracked the flight path of the Nike Ajax missile. Using tracking data of the TTR and MTR, a computer calculated the interception trajectory, and sent appropriate course correction commands to the missile. The three high-explosive fragmentation warheads of the missile (in nose, center, and aft section) were detonated by ground command, when the paths of target and missile met.

One of the major disadvantages of the Nike Ajax system was that the guidance system could handle only one target at a time. Additionally, there was originally no data link between different Nike Ajax sites, which could lead to several sites engaging the same target. The latter problem was eventually solved by the introduction of the Martin AN/FSG-1 Missile Master command-and-control system, with automatic data communication and processing. Other problematic features of the Nike Ajax system were the liquid-fuel rocket motor with its highly toxic propellants, and the large size of a complete site with all components, which made Nike Ajax to all intents and purposes a fixed-site air defense system.

By 1958, nearly 200 Nike Ajax sites had been activated in the United States. However, the far more advanced MIM-14 Nike Hercules soon replaced the Nike Ajax, and by late 1963, the last Nike Ajax on U.S. soil had been retired. In 1963, the Nike Ajax had received the new designation MIM-3A. Despite the use of an MIM (Mobile Intercept Missile) designator, the mobility of the Nike Ajax system was more theoretical than actually feasible in a combat situation.

The MIM-3A continued to serve with U.S. overseas and friendly forces for many more years. In total, more than 16,000 missiles were built.

 

Source: Directory of U.S. Missiles and Rockets, http://www.designation-systems.net/

 
 
 
 
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Updated 8 February 2016