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Running from 1 June 1946 to 28 July 1948.

This was the U.S. Navy’s effort to develop surface-to-air missiles with the intent to provide a mid-range layer of fleet air defense, between the short-range anti-aircraft guns and the long-range fighters. A major element pf Bumblebee was the Navy’s need to attack bombers before they could launch standoff anti-shipping weapons, as these aircraft might never enter the reach of shipboard guns.

Bumblebee was originally concentrated on a ramjet powered design and the Applied Physics Laboratory’s PTV-N-4 Cobra/BTV (Propulsion Test Vehicle/Burner Test Vehicle) was first flown in October 1945. Cobra would eventually emerge as the RIM-8 Talos, which entered service on 28 May 1958 aboard the light cruiser USS GALVESTON. As part of the development program, several other vehicles were also developed. One of these was the RIM-2 Terrier, which entered service on 15 June 1956, two years before Talos. Terrier was first installed on the heavy cruiser USS CANBERRA. The Terrier was later modified as a short-range missile system for smaller ships and entered service in 1963 as the RIM-24 Tarter. These three missiles were known in the fleet as the “3 T’s.”

Bumblebee was not the only early Navy SAM project, the SAM-N-2 Lark was rushed into production as a short-range missile to counter the Kamikaze threat, but never matured into an operational weapon. The RIM-50 Typhon was developed to replace the 3 T’s, but was canceled during development. The 3 T’s would be ultimately replaced by the RIM-66/67 Standard, a development of the Tarter.