Missile, Surface-to-Surface, Hermes A-3B

The Hermes A-3B was the last produced and tested vehicle of the U.S. Army Ordnance-General Electric Company sponsored Hermes ballistic missile program of the late 1940's. Like most Hermes vehicles, the A-3B was based upon the German V-2 of World War II.

Hermes A-3B was designed as a tactical surface-to-surface missile carrying a 1,000 lb warhead to a 150 mile range but never achieved that range in practice. It had a thrust of 22,600 pounds. By 1953-1954 six A-3B's were test launched at the White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, five successfully and provided invaluable data towards the development of large-scale missiles in the U.S. The Hermes program was canceled in 1954.

This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1991 from the U.S. Center of Military History.