The Missiles of Los Angeles

Nike Hercules missile site LA88, north of Chatsworth. Photo from U.S. Army Redstone Arsenal Historical Information.

During most of the 1950s and much of the 1960s, the United States saw large formations of attacking bombers as its primary strategic threat (presumably from the Soviet Union). Its answer to this threat came to be Nike supersonic anti-aircraft missile launch sites surrounding key American population and industrial centers such as Los Angeles.

On November 20, 1952, the 47th Air Defense Brigade established its headquarters at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, taking responsibility for the air defense of the Los Angeles area. Initially, the unit only had anti-aircraft guns to deploy, the same as Los Angeles had since World War II. However, within a few years, the Army began operating its first Nike missile launch sites in the Los Angeles area (site LA-78 in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, in 1954, being the first, according to the Fort MacArthur Museum). By 1958, the brigade had 16 Nike-Ajax launch sites ringing the Greater Los Angeles area. These sites were located in Malibu, Van Nuys, Chatsworth, Newhall, Saugus, Mt. Gleason, Barley Flats, El Monte, Brea, Stanton, Long Beach, San Pedro, Palos Verdes, Torrance, El Segundo, and Playa del Rey. At each site, missiles were concealed in underground bunkers and, in the event of a threat, were brought to the surface, loaded onto missile launchers and elevated for firing.

In 1958, the Army began upgrading its Nike missile sites in the Los Angeles area from the Nike-Ajax missile to the more powerful and longer-range Nike-Hercules missile. Unlike the earlier generation Ajax, the new missile could be armed with a nuclear warhead, which, in the event of having to defend Los Angeles, could be exploded far out to sea near approaching bomber formations. Due to the enhanced capabilities of Nike-Hercules, the Army reduced the number of launch sites around Los Angeles from 16 to 9.

In order to protect this vital arsenal, the Los Angeles area air defense system became the first in the nation to use Army sentry dogs to protect missile sites. In November 1958, four sentry dogs and their handlers began patrolling the LA-88 missile launch site in Chatsworth.

1966. U.S. Army soldiers Specialist Willie Booker and Private First Class Keneth Warner train with a Canine Corps dog to defend Nike missile installation LA-55 in Rancho Palos Verdes. These were highly sensitive, secured military installations, guarded by armed soldiers. In 1958, Chatsworth's LA-88 site became the first in the nation to be guarded by sentry dog teams. Photo from the L.A. Times Photographic Archive at UCLA Library.

By the end of the 1960s, the need for anti-aircraft missiles had begun to diminish. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) became the dominant strategic threat. By 1971, only 6 of the 16 original Nike launch sites in the Los Angeles area remained operational. On February 4, 1974, the Army ordered all Nike missile sites to deactivate.

Few signs are left of the former Los Angeles Nike missile system. Former sites have been "beaten into plowshares" and are now used for such diverse purposes as fire department and correctional facilities (Malibu, Mt. Gleason, Barley Flats), local government maintenance yards (El Monte, Palos Verdes), an oil field (Brea), an office complex (Long Beach), a commercial radar site (Newhall) and a cement company (Saugus). The California National Guard currently uses the former Van Nuys and Stanton sites. The Federal Court House in Pasadena is located on a former Nike support facility. Rancho Palos Verdes City Hall occupies the former administrative building for the Palos Verdes Missile Site.

Source: The Fort MacArthur Museum

Map of former Los Angeles Defense Area Missile Sites. Map created by the Los Angeles Almanac using JPL satellite image.

* In a number of cases, the Almanac found differing information on years of activation and/or deactivation for Nike sites listed above, depending on source. The initial year range shown in this list was provided by The Military Standard and List of Nike Missile Sites - Wikipedia. Where The Fort MacArthur Museum differs, that year range is included in parentheses.