Tartar was the shortest of the three T-series missiles at about 15 feet. Booster-equipped Terrier was roughly 27 feet long, while Talos reached about 32 feet. Tartar was developed from a Terrier body without the secondary booster, and its fixed control surfaces and semi-active homing carried into the medium-range Standard family. Terrier developed into the booster-equipped extended-range Standard line. Tartar's shorter missile and smaller magazine demand let it fit on smaller hulls. These apparently separate names describe a family shaped by shipboard geometry as much as missile performance.
Chapter · 12:37-13:18
Tartar, Terrier, Talos, and the Standard lineage
The dimensions and shared engineering behind Tartar, Terrier, Talos, and later Standard variants reveal a branching missile lineage.