The United States Navy in the Cold War Era: What ifs.

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This was a medium range surface-to-surface naval missile. The Tarter was the third of the “3 Ts” that would equip the USN.

The Tartar was born of a need for a more lightweight system for smaller ships, and something that could engage targets at very close range. Essentially, the Tartar was simply a RIM-2C Terrier without the secondary booster. The Tartar was never given a SAM-N-x designation, and was simply referred to as Missile Mk 15 until the unified Army-Navy designation system was introduced in 1963.

The Tartar was used on a number of ships, of a variety of sizes. Initially the Mk 11 twin-arm launcher was used, later ships used the Mk 13 and Mk 22 single-arm launchers. Early versions proved to be unreliable. The Improved Tartar retrofit program upgraded the earlier missiles to the much improved RIM-24C standard. Further development was canceled and a new missile, the RIM-66 Standard, was designed to replace it. Even after the upgrade to a new missile, ships were still said to be Tartar ships because they carried the Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System.

A dedicated anti-ship version for the Federal German Navy carrying a Bullpup warhead was abandoned when Germany purchased MM38 Exocet instead.

Weight was 1,310lbs (590kg), length was 180in (460cm), diameter was 13.5in (34cm), warhead was a 130lb (59 kg) continuous-rod.
Range varied from 8.7 nm (16.1 km) (RIM-24A); 16 nm (30 km) (RIM-24B); 17.5 nm (32.4 km) (RIM-24C), with a maximum speed of Mach 1.8