The XMQR-13A Ballistic Missile Target System (BMTS) was an unguided target rocket developed by the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during the 1960s, intended for use in the development of missile defense systems. Utilising off-the-shelf parts in four different configurations, the BMTS was utitised in a series of launches in the late 1960s supporting tests of several missile systems.

Design and development

Developed by the U.S. Army Missile Command (USAMICOM), the Ballistic Missile Target System, or BMTS, was intended as a ballistic target rocket, utilising as many parts from existing missiles as possible, to be used in the development and evaluation of defense systems against ballistic missile

Ballistic missile

A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...

 attack.

Given the designation XMQR-13A in 1967, the BMTS could be launched in four different configurations. Configuration 1 used the booster from a Nike Ajax surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

, with either an Apache (Version 1), Cajun

Cajun (rocket)

The Cajun was an American sounding rocket developed during the 1950s. It was extensively used for scientific experiments by NASA and the United States military between 1956 and 1976.-Development:...

 (version 2), or inert Cajun (version 3) upper stage. Configuration 2 omitted the upper stage. All four variations fitted a radar enhancer in the nose cone to assist in target acquisition by the targeting missile.

Operational history

The XMQR-13A was used in a series of test firings between 1966 and 1968, primarily from the White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...

, and using a modified Terrier

RIM-2 Terrier

The Convair RIM-2 Terrier was a two-stage medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. Originally, the Terrier had a launch thrust of 23 kN , and weight of 1392 kg...

 portable launcher. The test launches supported a variety of antimissile development programs, including that of the HAWK

MIM-23 Hawk

The Raytheon MIM-23 Hawk is a U.S. medium range surface-to-air missile. The Hawk was initially designed to destroy aircraft and was later adapted to destroy other missiles in flight. The missile entered service in 1960, and a program of extensive upgrades has kept it from becoming obsolete. It was...

, and was intended for use in the development of SAM-D.

The Nike-Apache and Nike-Cajun

Nike-Cajun

The Nike-Cajun was a two-stage sounding rocket built by combining a Nike base stage with a Cajun upper stage. It was launched 714 times between 1956 and 1976 and was the most frequently used sounding rocket of the western world...

 rocket configurations were also use extensively as sounding rocket

Sounding rocket

A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into...

s for experimental missions conducted by NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

.