The SSM-N-9 Regulus II cruise missile is a supersonic guided missile armed with a nuclear warhead, intended for launching from surface ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy (USN). [2]

Aug 27, 2015 · The second Regulus, built under Maritime Commission contract, was laid down as Escanaba Victory (MCV hull 112) by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corp., Portland, Oreg., 29 April 1944; launched...

Regulus II was a Mach 2 cruise missile design, which could also attain a significantly higher altitude and range than the SSM-N-8 Regulus I. The radio command guidance of the Regulus I was dropped in favour of an inertial guidance system, making the SSM-N-9 much less prone to electronic jamming.

A follow-on design, Regulus II, was pursued briefly, striving for supersonic speed. However, the navy’s preference for the new large, angle-deck nuclear aircraft carriers and for ballistic missile submarines relegated sea-launched cruise missiles to relative obscurity.

Thirty-six months later, the first Regulus II flew when a 115,000-pound- thrust booster launched the canard-configured missile. Regulus II could carry its 2,920-pound warhead 570 nm at Mach 2, and over 1,150 nm at reduced speeds.

In June 1953 Vought was selected by the US Navy to develop the Regulus II, a supersonic successor to the subsonic Regulus ship-launched cruise missile. The Regulus II would remedy the first generation missile's drawbacks by having autonomous inertial navigation, longer range, and supersonic dash capability through air defenses.

May 27, 2013 · The Regulus II was designed as the supersonic follow-on to the Navy’s Regulus I ship-launched cruise missile. Utilizing an inertial reference system, the Regulus II was autonomously guided to the target.

Regulus II was the supersonic inertially guided successor to the Regulus I missile. Studies for Regulus II began in 1951. Vought began design of the supersonic winged missile in April...

Regulus II was designed as a state of the art Mach 2, 65,000 foot flying machine doubling the capability of Reg I out to 1000 miles and guided by an inertial navigation system to its target. Awesome in those days.

On 10 May 1962, a Navy Sparrow III launched from a Navy Phantom jet successfully intercepted head-on another Navy missile, a Regulus II, while both were at supersonic speeds in the test range of the Naval Air Missile Center at Point Mugu, California.