4.16.1
Background and Objectives of Operation ARGUS.
ARGUS was unique among U.S. atmospheric nuclear test operations in
a number of respects.
It was one of the most expeditiously planned and
executed of all U.S. nuclear tests, requiring just 5 months from inception to
execution, in contrast to the normal period of 1 or more years.
Besides
TRINITY, it consisted of the only clandestine tests conducted during the
18-year period of atmospheric testing.
The intentions of all phases of the
ARGUS operation were concealed not only from other nations but also from the
majority of DOD participants in the tests.
In addition, ARGUS was the first
shipboard launch of a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead (20: 11, 18).
Most significant of all, the purpose of ARGUS did not fit the usual
categories:
the ARGUS shots, strictly speaking, involved neither diagnostic
tests of a weapon design nor effects tests on military systems.
The objective
was to establish the practicability of a theory, postulated by Nicholas
Christofilos, a physicist at LLNL, that a very-high-altitude nuclear
detonation of proper yield would produce phenomena of potentially significant
military importance by interfering with communications and weapon performance.
When the Eisenhower Administration officially announced the occurrence of the
tests on 19 March 1959, the New York Times headlined ARGUS as the "Greatest
Scientific Experiment Ever Conducted" (20: 11,12).
The operation proved the validity of the Christofilos theory.
It not
only provided data on military considerations, but also produced a great mass
of geophysical information (20: 2).
4.16.2
ARGUS Test Operations.
The series was conducted by Task Force 88, a naval organization consisting of nine ships and approximately 4,500 men.
Coordinated measurement
programs using satellite, rocket, aircraft, and surface stations were carried
out by the services and other Government agencies and contractors throughout
the world.
The ships of Task Force 88, in addition to the USS Norton Sound,
were the antisubmarine carrier USS Tarawa, the destroyers USS Bearss and USS
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