Operation Argus was a series of United States low-yield, high-altitude nuclear weapons tests and missile tests secretly conducted from 27 August to 9 September 1958 over the South Atlantic Ocean. The tests were performed by the Defense Nuclear Agency. The tests were to study the Christofilos effect, which suggested it was possible to defend against Soviet nuclear missiles by exploding a small number of nuclear bombs high over the South Pacific. This would create a disk of electrons over the United States that would overload the electronics on the Soviet warheads as they descended. It was also possible to use the effect to blind Soviet radars, meaning that any Soviet missile-based ABM system would be unable to attack the US counterstrike. The tests demonstrated that the effect did occur, but that it dissipated too rapidly to be very effective. Papers concerning the topic were published the next year, emphasizing the events as purely scientific endeavors.
Objectives The tests were proposed by Nicholas Christofilos in an unpublished paper of what was then the Livermore branch of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) as a means to verify the Christofilos effect, which argued that high-altitude nuclear detonations would create a radiation belt in the extreme upper regions of the Earth's atmosphere. Such belts would be similar in effect to the Van Allen radiation belts. "Such radiation belts were viewed as having possible tactical use in war, including degradation of radio and radar transmissions, damage or destruction of the arming and fuzing mechanisms of ICBM warheads, and endangering the crews of orbiting space vehicles that might enter the belt." Prior to Argus, Hardtack Teak had shown disruption of radio communications from a nuclear blast, though this was not due to the creation of radiation belts. Argus was implemented rapidly after inception due to forthcoming bans on atmospheric and exoatmospheric testing in October 1958. Consequently, the tests were performed within a mere half-year of conception (whereas "normal" testing took one to two years). Because nuclear testing during this time was arguably a violation of the rules, the military borrowed International Geophysical Year equipment to disguise the nuclear tests.
Two missiles, with warheads 136–227 kg to be launched within one month of each other, originating from a single site. The missiles were to be detonated at altitudes of 200–1,000 miles (320–1,610 km), and also at 2,000–4,000 miles (3,200–6,400 km). Both detonations should occur near the geomagnetic equator. Satellites were to be placed in equatorial (up to 30°) and polar (up to 70°) orbits, with perigees of roughly 322 kilometers (200 mi) and apogees of roughly 2,900 kilometers (1,800 mi) or greater. These satellites were to be used to measure electron density over time, and include a magnetometer, as well as a means for measuring ambient radio noise. Measurements were to be taken before the shots to determine a baseline, as well as during and after the events. Sounding rockets, launched from appropriate ground locations, were to carry the same instrumentation as the satellites, except for radio noise. Ground stations to be used to study effects on radio astronomy and radar probing as well as auroral measurements. Originally Argus was designated Hardtack-Argus, and later Floral. For reasons of security, both names were disused in favor of the independent name Argus. Funding was provided by the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project (AFSWP), the predecessor of the present Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Total funds allotted for the project were US$9,023,000.
Task Force 88
The United States Navy Task Force 88 (or TF-88), was formed 28 April 1958. TF-88 was organized solely to conduct Operation Argus. Once Argus was completed, the task force was dissolved, and its records dispersed. Some of these records have been destroyed or lost during the time period intervening. Of particular note among the missing documents were the film records (which recorded radiation levels during the Argus tests). This has proved contentious due to the greater-than-normal number of leukemia claims among TF-88 participants to the Veterans Administration. Because of this, it has been difficult to resolve to how much radiation the participants were exposed.
USS Norton Sound USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) was a United States Navy-guided missile ship responsible for missile-launching functions. It also served as a training facility for crews involved in the testing. The X-17A missiles to be used in the test were unfamiliar to those conducting the tests. Exercises including assembly and repair of dummy missiles were performed aboard Norton Sound. It also carried a 27-MHz COZI radar, which was operated by the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, which was used to monitor effects of the shots. It was responsible for the launching of three low-yield nuclear warheads into the high atmosphere. Its commanding officer, Captain Arthur R. Gralla, commanded Task Force 88. Gralla would later receive the Legion of Merit for his role conducting the tests expeditiously.
USS Albemarle USS Albemarle, fresh out of an overhaul, was not listed on the TF-88 order. It set out to the Atlantic Ocean, supposedly as a shakedown cruise. It, too, had a COZI radar and other instrumentation for detecting man-made ionization. This instrumentation included International Geophysical Year (IGY) radiometers, receivers, radar, and optical equipment. After the IGY equipment was added, it sailed to the ocean around the area of the Azores to record data at the geomagnetic conjugate point of the South Atlantic test site, as the rest of task force 88 headed to the South Atlantic to perform the tests.
USS Tarawa USS Tarawa served as overall command of the operation, with her commander serving as Task Group Commander. It carried an Air Force MSQ-1A radar and communication system for missile tracking. It also housed VS-32 aircraft for search and security operations as well as scientific measurement, photographic, and observer missions for each test. HS-5 was also aboard and provided intra-task-force transportation for personnel and cargo.
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