US SSM-A-5 ''Boojum'' Missile

By Crusader1307

An early ''Cruise Missile'' development program, with roots as far back at 1946, The SSM-A-5 ''Boojum'' was touted as a ''supersonic'' weapon developed by The Northrup Corporation of America. The Program called for a weapons systems capable of deploying a Nuclear Warhead very much as a Turbojet. Military Rockets to be used for such deployments were still in an ''infant'' state. It's somewhat odd name ''Boojum'' was traced to 19th Century Author Lewis Carroll and his imaginative ''fantasy'' creature or Snark – known as The ''Boojum''. Rapid Research & Development called for an almost ''Science-Fiction '' version of a ultra modern Jet, powered by multi-wing mounted Engines (planned, was the J47 Turbo Jet Rocket Engine). The thrust provided would have launched The ''Boojum'' to an altitude of 70,000-feet at Mach 2. It was theorized that the maximum range was well over 3,000-miles. The SSM-A-5 was listed at being 113,000-pounds, with a wingspan of 50-feet. It would have supported a Nuclear Device weighing 5,000-pounds. Missile length was to be 85-feet with a diameter of 14-feet. In short, The ''Boojum'' was to be a massive ''flying Missile''. The US Air Force was very interested in The SSM-A-2, but The Project was considered too expensive and possible too unfeasible to produce. By 1961, ''Boojum'' was canceled (but some of it's design ideas were used in the creation of The ''Snark'' SM-62 Missile.