Бомарк: Дальнобойная ракета ПВО ВВС США.

Long range surface to air missile
the USAF surface to air missile

The Boeing CIM 10 Bomarc ("Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center") (IM 99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long range surface to air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of North America. In addition to being the first operational long range SAM and the first operational pulse doppler aviation radar, it was the only SAM deployed by the United States Air Force. Stored horizontally in a launcher shelter with a movable roof, the missile was erected, fired vertically using rocket boosters to high altitude, and then tipped over into a horizontal Mach 2.5 cruise powered by ramjet engines. This lofted trajectory allowed the missile to operate at a maximum range as great as 430 mile (692 km). Controlled from the ground for most of its flight, when it reached the target area it was commanded to begin a dive, activating an onboard active radar homing seeker for terminal guidance. A radar proximity fuse detonated the warhead, either a large conventional explosive or the W40 nuclear warhead. The Air Force originally planned for a total of 52 sites covering most of the major cities and industrial regions in the US. The US Army was deploying their own systems at the same time, and the two services fought constantly both in political circles and in the press. Development dragged on, and by the time it was ready for deployment in the late 1950s, the nuclear threat had moved from manned bombers to the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). By this time the Army had successfully deployed the much shorter range Nike Hercules that they claimed filled any possible need through the 1960s, in spite of Air Force claims to the contrary. As testing continued, the Air Force reduced its plans to sixteen sites, and then again to eight with an additional two sites in Canada. The first US site was declared operational in 1959, but with only a single working missile. Bringing the rest of the missiles into service took years, by which time the system was obsolete. Deactivations began in 1969 and by 1972 all Bomarc sites had been shut down. A small number were used as target drones, and only a few remain on display today.

During World War II, the US Army Air Force (USAAF) concluded that existing anti aircraft guns, only marginally effective against existing generations of propeller driven aircraft, would not be effective at all against the emerging jet powered designs. Like the Germans and British before them, they concluded the only successful defence would be to use guided weapons. As early as 1944 the US Army started exploring anti aircraft missiles, examining a variety of concepts. At the time, two basic concepts appeared possible; one would use a short range rocket that flew directly at the target from below following a course close to the line of sight, and the other would fly up to the target's altitude and then tip over and fly horizontally towards the target like a fighter aircraft. As both concepts seemed promising, the Army Air Force was given the task of developing the airplane like design, while the Army Ordnance Department was given the more ballistic collision course concept. Official requirements were published in 1945. Official requirements were published in 1945; Bell Laboratories won the Ordnance contract for a short range line of sight weapon under Project Nike, while a team of players led by Boeing won the contract for a long range design known as Ground to Air Pilotless Aircraft, or GAPA. GAPA moved to the US Air Force when that branch was formed in 1947. In 1946, the USAAF also started two early research projects into anti missile systems in Project Thumper (MX 795) and Project Wizard (MX 794).

Formally organized in 1946 under USAAF project MX 606, by 1950 Boeing had launched more than 100 test rockets in various configurations, all under the designator XSAM A 1 GAPA. The tests were very promising, and Boeing received a USAF contract in 1949 to develop a production design under project MX 1599. The MX 1599 missile was to be a ramjet powered, nuclear armed long range surface to air missile to defend the Continental United States from high flying bombers. The Michigan Aerospace Research Center (MARC) was added to the project soon afterward, and this gave the new missile its name Bomarc (for Boeing and MARC). In 1951, the USAF decided to emphasize its point of view that missiles were nothing else than pilotless aircraft by assigning aircraft designators to its missile projects, and anti aircraft missiles received F for Fighter designations. The Bomarc became the F 99. and continued to denigrate Nike in the press over the next few years, in one case showing a graphic of Washington being destroyed by nuclear bombs that Ajax failed to stop. Tests of the XF 99 test vehicles began in September 1952 and continued through early 1955. The XF 99 tested only the liquid fueled booster rocket, which would accelerate the missile to ramjet ignition speed. In February 1955, tests of the XF 99A propulsion test vehicles began. These included live ramjets, but still had no guidance system or warhead. The designation YF 99A had been reserved for the operational test vehicles. In August 1955, the USAF discontinued the use of aircraft like type designators for missiles, and the XF 99A and YF 99A became XIM 99A and YIM 99A, respectively. Originally the USAF had allocated the designation IM 69, but this was changed (possibly at Boeing's request to keep number 99) to IM 99 in October 1955. By this time, Ajax was widely deployed around the United States and some overseas locations, and the Army was beginning to develop its much more powerful successor, Nike Hercules. Hercules was an existential threat to BOMARC, as its much greater range and nuclear warhead filled many of the roles that BOMARC was designed for. A new round of fighting in the press broke out, capped by an article in the New York Times entitled "Air Force Calls Army Nike Unfit To Guard Nation". In October 1957, the first YIM 99A production representative prototype flew with full guidance, and succeeded to pass the target within destructive range. In late 1957, Boeing received the production contract for the IM 99A Bomarc A, and in September 1959, the first IM 99A squadron became operational.

The first USAF operational Bomarc squadron was the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (ADMS), organized on 1 January 1959 and activated on 25 March. The 46th ADMS was assigned to the New York Air Defense Sector at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The training program, under the 4751st Air Defense Wing used technicians acting as instructors and was established for a four month duration. Training included missile maintenance; SAGE operations and launch procedures, including the launch of an unarmed missile at Eglin. In September 1959 the squadron assembled at their permanent station, the Bomarc site near McGuire AFB, and trained for operational readiness. The first Bomarc A were used at McGuire on 19 September 1959 with Kincheloe AFB getting the first operational IM 99Bs. While several of the squadrons replicated earlier fighter interceptor unit numbers, they were all new organizations with no previous historical counterpart. ADC's initial plans called for some 52 Bomarc sites around the United States with 120 missiles each but as defense budgets decreased during the 1950s the number of sites dropped substantially. Ongoing development and reliability problems didn't help, nor did Congressional debate over the missile's usefulness and necessity. In June 1959, the Air Force authorized 16 Bomarc sites with 56 missiles each; the initial five would get the IM 99A with the remainder getting the IM 99B. However, in March 1960, HQ USAF cut deployment to eight sites in the United States and two in Canada. Between 2002 and 2004, 21,998 cubic yards of contaminated debris and soils were shipped to what was then known as Envirocare, located in Utah.

In 1962, the US Air Force started using modified A models as drones; following the October 1962 tri service redesignation of aircraft and weapons systems they became CQM 10As. Otherwise the air defense missile squadrons maintained alert while making regular trips to Santa Rosa Island for training and firing practice. After the inactivation of the 4751st ADW(M) on 1 July 1962 and transfer of Hurlburt to Tactical Air Command for air commando operations the 4751st Air Defense Squadron (Missile) remained at Hurlburt and Santa Rosa Island for training purposes. In the era of the intercontinental ballistic missiles the Bomarc, designed to intercept relatively slow manned bombers, had become a useless asset. The remaining Bomarc missiles were used by all armed services as high speed target drones for tests of other air defense missiles. The Bomarc A and Bomarc B targets were designated as CQM 10A and CQM 10B, respectively. Russ Sneddon, director of the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida provided information about missing CIM 10 exhibit airframe serial 59–2016, one of the museum's original artifacts from its founding in 1975 and donated by the 4751st Air Defense Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Eglin Auxiliary Field 9, Eglin AFB. As of December 2006, the suspect missile was stored in a secure compound behind the Armaments Museum. In December 2010, the airframe was still on premises, but partly dismantled.

The Bomarc Missile Program was highly controversial in Canada. The Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker initially agreed to deploy the missiles, and shortly thereafter controversially scrapped the Avro Arrow, a supersonic manned interceptor aircraft, arguing that the missile program made the Arrow unnecessary. Ultimately, the Diefenbaker government decided that the Bomarcs should not be equipped with nuclear warheads. The dispute split the Diefenbaker Cabinet, and led to the collapse of the government in 1963. He won the 1963 election, largely on the basis of this issue, and his new Liberal government proceeded to accept nuclear armed Bomarcs, with the first being deployed on 31 December 1963. When the nuclear warheads were deployed, Pearson's wife, Maryon, resigned her honorary membership in the anti nuclear weapons group, Voice of Women. No. 447 SAM Squadron operating out of RCAF Station La Macaza, Quebec, was activated on 15 September 1962 although warheads were not delivered until late 1963. The squadron followed the same operational procedures as No. 446, its sister squadron. With the passage of time the operational capability of the 1950s era Bomarc system no longer met modern requirements; the Department of National Defence deemed that the Bomarc missile defense was no longer a viable system, and ordered both squadrons to be stood down in 1972. The bunkers and ancillary facilities remain at both former sites.

The Bomarc missile captured the imagination of the American and Canadian popular music industry, giving rise to a pop music group, the Bomarcs (composed mainly of servicemen stationed on a Florida radar site that tracked Bomarcs), a record label, Bomarc Records, and a moderately successful Canadian pop group, The Beau Marks.