Subject: Number Ninety-Nine in the Series--Boeing-MARC F-99 Bomarc

From: [email-masked]
Date: 19 Oct 93 16:16:07 GMT

>From [email-masked]

The fighter designation F-99 was assigned in the late 1940s to the 
Bomarc surface-to-air missile.  The F-99 was a joint project of the 
Boeing Airplane Company and the Michigan Aeronautical Research Center, 
the name *BOMARC* standing for BOeing and the Michigan Aeronautical 
Research Center.  

The Bomarc missile resembled a small aircraft with a pair of 
shoulder-mounted delta wings.  It was launched from a vertical 
position by a 23,000 lb.st. Aerojet General LR59-AG-13 liquid-fueled 
rocket motor mounted in the tail.  Second-stage thrust was provided by 
a pair of 10,000 lb.st. Marquardt RJ43-MA-3 ramjet engines attached 
to the fuselage sides.  Maximum speed attained during an intercept was 
Mach 3.45 (2275 mph) at 105,000 feet.  Launch weight was 15,500 
pounds.  The dimensions were wingspan 18 feet 2 inches, length 
(excluding the first stage rocket nozzle) 47 feet 4 inches, height 10 
feet 3 inches, wing area 65 square feet.  

The warhead consisted of 1000 pounds of high explosives.  
Alternatively, a nuclear warhead could be carried.  The warhead was 
detonated by a proximity fuse activated from the ground control 
center.  

The first Bomarc launch took place on September 1, 1952.  A short time 
later, it was decided that it was not a good idea to give fighter 
designations to unmanned missiles, and the Bomarc was redesignated 
IM-99A, where IM stood for "Intercept Missile".  

The IM-99B version of the Bomarc had a first-stage Thiokol solid-fuel 
rocket motor in place of the liquid-fueled engine of the A.  

On September 18, 1962, the IM-99A and B were redesignated CIM-10A and 
CIM-10B, where the C prefix stood for "Coffin" which described the 
intercept missiles launch environment, i.e.  horizontal storage in a 
protective encounter.  

The Bomarc served well into the 1960s with the USAF Air Defense 
Command.  In the late 1950s, the Canadian government decided to 
abandon work on the advanced Avro Arrow two-seat Mach 3 interceptor 
and opted for the unmanned Bomarc.  Anyone have any info on when
the Bomarc left Canadian service?

A CIM-10A Bomarc (serial number 59-1897) is on display outside the 
USAF Museum at the Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio.  

Source: 

Fighters of the United States Air Force, Robert F. Dorr and David 
Donald, Temple Press Aerospace, 1990.  

Joe Baugher		AT&T Bell Laboratories   	
2000 North Naperville Road      Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033