Jaguar (American rocket)

United States Air Force sounding rocket

Jaguar

Jaguar in front of B-57 launch aircraft

Function| Sounding rocket
Manufacturer| ARDC
Country of origin| United States
Size
Height| 8.029 m (26 ft 4.1 in)
Diameter| 0.53 m (21 in)
Mass| 730 kg (1,600 lb)
Stages| Three
Payload to 800 km (500 mi)
Mass| 16 kg (35 lb)
Launch history
Status| Retired
Launch sites| White Sands
Total launches| 2
First flight| 1960
Last flight| 1961
First stage – Recruit cluster
Diameter| 0.53 m (21 in)
Powered by| 3 x XM19
Maximum thrust| 156 kN (35,000 lbf) each
Burn time| 1.5 s
Propellant| solid
Second stage – Recruit
Diameter| 23 cm (9 in)
Powered by| 1 x XM19
Maximum thrust| 156 kN (35,000 lbf)
Burn time| 1.5 s
Propellant| solid
Third stage – Baby Sergeant
Diameter| 16 cm (6.4 in)
Powered by| 1 x 5.4KS1975
Maximum thrust| 8.8 kN (2,000 lbf)
Burn time| 5.4 s
Propellant| solid

[edit on Wikidata]

Jaguar was a three-stage sounding rocket developed by the United States Air Force in the early 1960s.[1] Designed for air launch to allow soundings from remote areas without infrastructure, it was only launched twice before the project was abandoned.

## Design and development

[edit]

Jaguar was an air-launched sounding rocket developed by the Air Research and Development Command of the U.S. Air Force, intended for use for high-altitude scientific research into the aurora borealis and radiation trapped in the Van Allen Belts.[2] Derived from a design used by the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory,[2] it was a three-stage vehicle, with a first stage of three clustered Recruit rockets, a single Recruit as a second stage,[3] and a third stage with a Baby Sergeant rocket.[2][1] It was to be launched using a Martin B-57 Canberra medium bomber that was modified to carry the rocket on a side-mounted pylon; this allowed for the rocket to be launched from any location capable of operating a jet aircraft, without the need for installing launch infrastructure in remote areas.[4] To launch, the Canberra would pull into a near-vertical climb, akin to that used for toss bombing, and release the rocket;[2] Jaguar was expected to be capable of launching a 16-kilogram (35 lb) payload to an apogee of 800 kilometres (500 mi).[3] An upgraded version using the improved "Yardbird" model of the Recruit was proposed.[5]

## Operational history

[edit]

Following six dummy launch tests starting in January 1958,[2] Jaguar was launched twice; taking place at the White Sands Missile Range under the command of the Air Force Special Weapons Center,[5] the first launch was conducted in late 1960, and the second in early 1961.[1] Following the two launches, the program was abandoned.[2]

## See also

[edit]

* NOTS-EV-1 Pilot
* NOTS-EV-2 Caleb
* Sparoair

## References

[edit]

### Citations

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Jaguar B-57". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2025-02-06.
2. ^ a b c d e f Shortal 1978, p. 484.
3. ^ a b Parsch 2004
4. ^ Jacobs and Whitney 1962, p. 86.
5. ^ a b Ordway and Wakeford 1960, p. ND13.

### Bibliography

[edit]

* Jacobs, Horace; Eunice Engelke Whitney (1962). Missile and Space Projects Guide 1962. New York: Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4899-6967-5. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
* Ordway, Frederick Ira; Ronald C. Wakeford (1960). International Missile and Spacecraft Guide. New York: McGraw-Hill. ASIN B000MAEGVC.
* Parsch, Andreas (13 July 2004). "USAF ARDC Jaguar". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 4: Undesignated Vehicles. Designation-Systems. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
* Shortal, Joseph Adams (1978). A New Dimension: Wallops Island Flight Test Range – The First Fifteen Years. Washington, D.C.: NASA Science and Technical Information Office. ASIN B004VJHCKC.

* v
* t
* e

1955–1962 United States Air Force rocket and missile designations

Air-to-air missiles|

| 1955–1961 sequence|

* MB-1
* GAR-1
* GAR-2
* GAR-3
* GAR-4
* GAR-5
* GAR-6
* GAR-8
* GAR-9
* GAR-11

|

1961–1963 sequence|

* AIM-101

Other types|

* TM-61
* SM-62
* GAM-63
* SM-64
* SM-65
* GAM-67
* SM-68
* IM-69
* IM-70
* GAM-71
* GAM-72
* SM-73
* SM-74
* SM-75
* TM-76
* GAM-77
* SM-78
* GAM-79
* SM-80
* RM-81
* RM-82
* GAM-83
* RM-84
* RM-85
* RM-86
* GAM-87
* SRM-88
* RM-89
* RM-90
* RM-91
* RM-92
* IM-99

Undesignated types|

* Alpha Draco
* Bold Orion
* Cherokee
* High Virgo
* Jaguar
* Pye Wacket
* Skokie
* Skydart
* Sky Scorcher
* Supersonic Low Altitude Missile

* See also: USAF missile designations 1947–51
* United States tri-service missile and drone designations post-1962

* v
* t
* e

Air-launched space vehicles and rockets

* Air launch

Spaceplanes|

* X-15
* SpaceShipOne
* SpaceShipTwo

Sounding rockets|

* Jaguar
* Sparoair

Orbital launchers|

* Pilot
* Caleb
* Pegasus
* LauncherOne

Air-to-space missiles|

* ASM-135

Air-launched ballistic missiles|

* Kh-47M2 Kinzhal
* LGM-30 Minuteman
* GAM-87 Skybolt

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