Many Nike sites are now municipal yards, communications, and FAA facilities, probation camps, and even renovated for use as airsoft gaming and military simulation training complexes. Several were obliterated and turned into parks. Some are now private residences.
Developing the Nike Hercules Missile The resulting system was a ground-based, anti-aircraft, guided-missile system that could detect, target, and destroy enemy bombers. It was named Nike, after the Greek goddess of victory. The system was developed by Bell Laboratories, Western Electric Company, and Douglas Aircraft.
By 1964, Knight and his former University of Oregon coach, Bill Bowerman, formed Blue Ribbon Sports; they created the iconic Tiger Cortez in 1967, their version of the Onitsuka Tiger. In 1971, Blue Ribbon split with Onitsuka; and the duo changed the firm's name to Nike, after the Greek goddess of victory.
The NIKE Missile sites were the first nationwide U.S. air defense system designed to protect against a Soviet nuclear attack. In the 1950s, they were highly visible, powerful symbols of U.S. military power as well as the Soviet threat.
Many Nike sites are now municipal yards, communications, and FAA facilities, probation camps, and even renovated for use as airsoft gaming and military simulation training complexes. Several were obliterated and turned into parks. Some are now private residences.
The NIKE air defense program fielded three generations of missiles: the NIKE-AJAX, the NIKE-HERCULES, and the NIKE-ZEUS. The United States Army developed them and issued them to units deployed both inside and outside of the boundaries of the Continental United States.