Telescope, Keuffel & Esser Co. 5010

[Vertol]

Hello,

 

I'm not sure I'm in the right topic, because a missile is bigger than a gun ...

So, I present you this interesting telescope (nearly 50cm long). This one was designed by Keuffel & Esser Co. at the end of the 40's for a ground-air defensive system.

This system was the SAM-7, more known as Nike Ajax. However, my telescope is for the experimental missile develloped by Western Electric, the X-SAM-7.

It probably comes from Belgian Army, which had Nike Ajax missiles.

It's not in pretty shape, but it's an interesting piece of history.

 

Regards.

 

 

 

Belgian Museum :

 

[thorin6]

Very neat. I collected survey equipment for some years, and the K&E transits were highly desired. I know they were used in WWII to build airplanes and ships, and then after WWII K&E (and others, such as Gurley) produced specialized equipment for the military. One such one I saw some years ago was used to align the torpedo tubes for nuclear submarines.

That one is about 20 inches long in US measurements; its lengh is probably because of the need for precision in aligning the missle to it's lauching pad in some way.