Blast From The Past

Scott sent me a link to a site about Nike anti-aircraft missile sites. Back during the cold war, we (the USA) set up a bunch of these, many times the number of BOMARC sites. Some Nike missiles used a conventional explosive, some used a nuclear warhead.

 

Incredible Footage of B17 Bomber Destroyed by Nike Missle (1954) | British Pathé
War Archives
This video shows a four engine, propeller driven bomber being destroyed by a Nike missile. I wonder how they were able to record this. I imagine this was a test and the bomber was unmanned. The bomber could have been on autopilot, I mean autopilots have been around forever, but how did they get the plane far enough off the ground to engage the autopilot? And who was filming this? Another unmanned drone? And how far away would you have to be to ensure that the aircraft with the camera wasn't the one targeted by the missile? This is another fine example of the Cold War mentality gone wild.

Update: Clyde & IGOR got the shot.

Update March 2022 replaced missing video.