The Bridgeport Defense Area
The Bridgeport region was one of two areas within the state of Connecticut to be defended
by the Army's Nike missiles during the Cold War. Bridgeport's status as the Nutmeg State's
most important industrial city and port, combined with its sizable population of nearly
150,000 residents (in 1955) made it a potential target for a Soviet bomber attack in the event
that World War Three had broken out.
In order to defend against the threat of a possible nuclear air attack, six Nike missile
batteries were constructed within the Bridgeport region. The sites were designed to encircle
the city and the surrounding region with interlocking fields of defensive missile fire. Site
locations included Ansonia, Westhaven, Milford, Fairfield, Westport and Shelton. The Army
headquarters controlling the missile batteries was located in Bridgeport.
Each missile site consisted of two separate facilities: a Launcher Area where the missiles
were stored within underground storage magazines and a Control Area featuring
the Nike system's radar systems and ground guidance equipment. The two areas had to be
separated by a distance of at least 1,000 yards due to technical limitations of the system.
Each site featured three missile storage magazines. Typically, these magazines each contained
ten Nike Ajax missiles for a total of thirty missiles per site.
Nike Ajax missiles were designed to shoot down subsonic Soviet bombers which were
expected to drop their nuclear bombs from a medium or high altitude.
Equipped with high explosive, fragmentation type warheads, the sleek 35 foot long Ajax
missiles could reach speeds of over 1,600 miles per hour and altitudes
of more than 60,000 feet. The missiles were guided to their aircraft targets by a ground based
guidance system which included several radar types and an analog missile guidance computer.
The maximum range of the Nike Ajax missile was roughly 30 miles.
All of the Bridgeport area sites were initially manned by Regular Army units assigned to the
U.S. Army's Air Defense Command (ARADCOM). Units from the Bridgeport Defense Area also
contributed to the manning of the Plainville Nike site, one of six Nike installations
defending the Hartford region.
Later, units of the Connecticut
Army National Guard began air defense operations at the Milford and Westport sites
under a nationwide scheme to incorporate reserve elements into the nation's air
defenses.
Beginning in 1958, the Army began deploying an improved, second-generation Nike missile at
select sites across the nation. Known as the Nike Hercules, the new missile offered improved
performance and accuracy in addition to a far greater maximum range of nearly 90 miles. Most
significant, however, was the new missile's nuclear capability which enabled a single
Nike Hercules missile to destroy a formation of several attacking aircraft with a single
defensive nuclear detonation.
Due to the enhanced capabilities of the Nike Hercules system, fewer missile sites were needed
to defend the Bridgeport region. Only one of the six missile sites - the Ansonia site - was
upgraded to utilize the new missile system. Its Nike Hercules missiles were ready to fire
during the first quarter of 1959.
Site inactivations within the Bridgeport area began during 1961 when three Nike Ajax sites
(Westhaven, Fairfield and Shelton) were closed. The Milford and Westport sites remained
active under the Connecticut Army National Guard through 1963 when they too were closed.
By 1964, only one of Bridgeport's original six Nike missile batteries, the Ansonia site,
remained in active service. Operation of the site was transferred to the Connecticut
Army National Guard in that same year. Equipped with its powerful Nike Hercules missiles,
the Ansonia site remained an important link in the chain of air defenses which defended not
only the Bridgeport region but lower New England and the approaches to the New York
metropolitan area as well.
During the summer of 1971, the Ansonia site was inactivated along with the last remaining Nike
Hercules site in the Hartford region, marking the end of the Nike era in the Nutmeg State.
Site Curator: Donald E. Bender
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright 2000 by Donald E. Bender. All Rights Reserved.