Editing Project Nike (section)

{{short description|Missile program of the United States Army}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Nike-missile-family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Nike missile family and other missiles on display at [[Redstone Arsenal]], Alabama. From left, [[Nike Hercules]], [[MIM-23 Hawk]] (front), [[MGM-29 Sergeant]] (back), [[LIM-49 Spartan]], [[MGM-31 Pershing]], [[MGM-18 Lacrosse]], [[MIM-3 Nike Ajax]], [[ENTAC]] (foreground)]]

'''Project Nike''' (Greek: [[Nike (mythology)|Νίκη]], "Victory") was a [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] project proposed in May 1945 by [[Bell Laboratories]], to develop a [[line-of-sight (missile)|line-of-sight]] anti-aircraft missile system. The project delivered the United States' first operational anti-aircraft missile system, the [[MIM-3 Nike Ajax|Nike Ajax]], in 1953. Many technologies and rocket systems used for developing the Nike Ajax were re-used in other projects, many given the "Nike" name (after [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], the goddess of victory from [[Greek mythology]]).
The missile's first-stage [[solid rocket]] booster became the basis for many types of rocket, including the [[Nike-Hercules Missile|Nike Hercules missile]] and [[NASA]]'s [[Nike Smoke rocket]], used for upper-atmosphere research.