The 1st Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 585th Tactical Missile Group at Bitburg Air Base, West Germany, where it was inactivated on 18 June 1958.
701st Tactical Missile Wing TM-61 Matador missile of the 1st Tactical Missile Squadron
B-29 Superfortresses of the 500th Bombardment Group dropping incendiaries on Japan
MGM-1 Matador
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The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile designed and built by the United States. It was developed after World War II, drawing upon their wartime experience with creating the Republic-Ford JB-2, a copy of the German V-1. The Matador was similar in concept to the V-1, but it included a radio command that allowed in-flight course corrections. This allowed accuracy to be maintained over greatly extended ranges of just under 1000 km. To allow these ranges, the Matador was powered by a small turbojet engine in place of the V-1's much less efficient pulsejet.
A Matador missile on its launcher near Hahn Air Base, West Germany.
A Matador missile at Gatow, Germany.
Unrestored Matador Missile from Florence Air and Missile Museum at Carolinas Aviation Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina (KCLT)