MGR-1 Honest John

The MGR-1 Honest John rocket was the first nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile in the US arsenal. Designated Artillery Rocket XM31, the first such rocket was tested 29 June 1951 and the first production rounds were delivered in January 1953. The designator was changed to M31 in September 1953. The first Army units received their rockets by year's end and Honest John battalions were deployed in Europe in early 1954. Alternatively, the rocket was designed to be capable of carrying an ordinary high-explosive warhead weighing 1500 lb, even though that was not the primary purpose for which it was originally envisioned.

History and development
Developed at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, Honest John was a large but simple fin-stabilized, unguided artillery rocket weighing 5820 lb in its initial M-31 nuclear-armed version. Mounted on the back of a truck, HJ was aimed in much the same way as a cannon and then fired up an elevated ramp, igniting four small spin rockets as it cleared the end of the ramp. The M-31 had a range of 15.4 mi with a 20 kiloton nuclear warhead and was also capable of carrying a 1500 lb conventional warhead. Early tests exhibited more scatter on target than was acceptable when HJ was conventionally armed. Development of an upgraded Honest John, M-50, was undertaken to improve accuracy and extend range. The size of the fins was greatly reduced to eliminate “weathercocking” (the tendency of crosswinds to turn a rocket to face into the wind). Increased spin was applied to restore the positive stability margin that was lost when fin size was reduced. The improved M-50, with the smaller fins and more “rifling”, had a maximum range of 30+ miles with a scatter on target of only 250 yd, demonstrating an accuracy approaching that of tube artillery. Honest John was manufactured by the Douglas Airplane Company of Santa Monica, California. The M31 consisted of a truck-mounted, unguided, solid-fueled rocket transported in three separate parts. Before launch they were assembled in the field, mounted on an M289 launcher and aimed and fired in about 5 minutes. The rocket was originally outfitted with a W7 variable yield nuclear warhead with a yield of up to 20 ktonTNT and later a W31 warhead with three variants was deployed with yields of in 1959. There was a W31 variant of 20 ktonTNT used in the Nike Hercules antiaircraft system exclusively. M-31 had a range between 5.5 and 24.8 km.

In the 1960s Sarin nerve gas cluster munitions were also available for Honest John launch.

The two basic versions of Honest John were:
 * MGR-1A (M31) was 27 ft long, had an engine diameter of 22.875 in, a warhead diameter of 30 in, a span of 104 in, weighed 5820 lb (nuclear), and had a maximum range of 15.4 mi. The Hercules Powder Company X-202 rocket motor was 197.44 in long, weighed 3937 lb, and had 90325 lbf average thrust.
 * MGR-1B (M50) was 24 ft long, had an engine diameter of 22.8 in, a warhead diameter of 30 in, a span of 56 in, weighed 4332 lb (nuclear), and had twice the range of the M31. The Thiokol composite propellant solid rocket motor had 150000 lbf thrust.

Production of the MGR-1 variants finished in 1965 with a total production run of more than 7,000 rockets. Honest John’s bulbous nose and distinctive truck-mounted launch ramp made it an easily recognized symbol of the Cold War at Army bases world-wide and National Guard armories at home. Even though HJ was unguided and the first U.S. nuclear ballistic missile, it had a longer service life than all other U.S. ballistic missiles except Minuteman. The system was replaced with the MGM-52 Lance missile in 1973, but was deployed with NATO units in Europe until 1985 and National Guard units in the United States as late as 1982. Conventionally armed Honest John remained in the arsenals of Greece, Turkey and South Korea until at least the late 1990s.

By the time the last Honest Johns were withdrawn from Europe in 1985, the rocket had served with the military forces of Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark (non-nuclear), France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway (non-nuclear), South Korea, Taiwan (non-nuclear), and Turkey.

Support vehicles
Vehicles used with Honest John
 * M33 trailer, launcher,
 * M46 truck, heating and tie down unit (G744)
 * M289 truck, rocket launcher, (M139 truck) (G744),
 * M329 trailer, rocket transporter, (G821)
 * M386 Truck, Rocket, 762mm, short launch rail, 5-ton (M139 truck)
 * M405 handling unit, trailer mounted,
 * M465 cart assembly, transport, 762mm rocket,

Survivors


Canada
 * CFB Petawawa Military Museum CFB Petawawa, Petawawa, Ontario.
 * The Central Museum of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, Shilo Manitoba

Denmark
 * The Royal Danish Arsenal Museum

United Kingdom
 * Imperial War Museum Duxford
 * Royal Air Force Museum

United States
 * 4th Infantry Museum, 7th Cav Museum, Fort Hood, Texas
 * 45th Infantry Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 * Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
 * American Armoured Foundation, Inc. Tank & Ordnance War Memorial Museum, Danville, Virginia
 * Bedford, Indiana, displayed outside a Military surplus store, at the Southwest corner of US-50/IN-37 and IN-450 (Google Maps streetview link).
 * Camp Atterbury Military Museum, Camp Atterbury, Indiana
 * Carolinas Aviation Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina (Two missiles are on display - both came from the Florence Air & Missile Museum)
 * Combat Air Museum, Topeka, Kansas
 * Fort Lewis Museum, Fort Lewis, Washington
 * Fort Sill, Oklahoma
 * National Atomic Museum, Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico
 * Rock Island Arsenal, Arsenal Island, between Iowa and Illinois
 * Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas
 * Underwood Community Center, Underwood, Minnesota.
 * United States Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
 * Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Arizona

Operators

 * Belgian Army
 * Royal Danish Army
 * French Army
 * German Army
 * Hellenic Army
 * Italian Army
 * Japan Ground Self Defense Force
 * Republic of Korea Army
 * Norwegian Army (1961–65)
 * Royal Netherlands Army
 * 🇹🇼 Taiwan
 * Republic of China Army
 * Turkish Army
 * British Army
 * United States Army
 * Republic of Korea Army
 * Norwegian Army (1961–65)
 * Royal Netherlands Army
 * 🇹🇼 Taiwan
 * Republic of China Army
 * Turkish Army
 * British Army
 * United States Army
 * Turkish Army
 * British Army
 * United States Army
 * British Army
 * United States Army
 * United States Army