Nike Missile Site

<br>Missiles emerged from silos beneath the pavement, and waited on launching racks while radar tracked the skies. During the 1950’s &#8211; the Cold War Era &#8211; Nike missiles were stationed here to defend the New York-Philadelphia corridor against long-range bombers.<br><br>The peninsula of Sandy Hook provided an isolated location for newly-developed forms of radar. Like other batteries in the area these weapons were mounted as deterrent rather than aggressor. The missile base was closed in 1974, and the missile defenses for this area are now hidden in the Midwest.<center><br><b>[ <i>Sidebar</i>: ]<br>Guiding the Missiles</b></center><br>Radar provides the deadly accuracy of these surface-to-air missiles. Long-range search radar emits radio waves that bounce off an unidentified aircraft and return flight-path information to a control computer, which activates tracking radar to lock on the target. If the target is confirmed to be an enemy, the control computer launches the missile and guides it with a command radio.