Dating to May of 1958, these silent “dailies” show ground handling equipment being developed for the U.S. Navy’s Polaris IRBM. The footage was shot in Van Nuys, California — then home of the Lockheed Missiles Division. A full size “dummy” missile is shown being loaded onto a hydraulic carrier. At 6:00 the missile is rotated to vertical. In this position it could be lowered into a submarine silo, and that may very well be the function of this piece of equipment. Alternatively, it might be a launching system, although that seems less likely. At 9:00, a ring is secured to the nose of the missile and locked into place.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com