Original vintage 1960s Avco Corporation advertisement for the company's nuclear missile warhead nose cones for the Titan and Minuteman nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
 
"Business end of the Titan - by Avco.  The nose cone for the Air Force's Titan - designed to withstand the scorching heat and incredible shock of atmospheric re-entry - is a product of Avco research.  Now, with the successful flight of the ICBM, the Air Force has assigned two new and important projects to Avco: an advanced design nose cone for the Titan and the nose cone for the third generation of intercontinental missiles - the mighty, solid-fueled Minuteman." 
 
Dimensions: Approx. 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
 
The Titan LGM-25 & Minuteman LGM-30 ICBMs
 
The Titan was a family of United States expendable missiles used between 1959 and 2005.  The Titan I and Titan II missiles were part of the US Air Force's (USAF) ICBM fleet until 1987, and the space launch vehicle Titan versions contributed the majority of the 368 Titan launches, including all the Project Gemini crewed flights of the mid-1960s.  Titan vehicles were also used to lift U.S. military payloads – as well as civilian agency reconnaissance satellites – and to send interplanetary scientific probes throughout the Solar System.
 
 
Most of the Titan rockets were the Titan II ICBM and their civilian derivatives for NASA.  The most famous use of the civilian Titan II was in the NASA Gemini program of crewed space capsules in the mid-1960s.  Twelve Titan II GLVs were used to launch two U.S. uncrewed Gemini test launches and ten crewed capsules with two-person crews – all launches were successful.
 
As the Cold War progressed and missiles became more numerous and advanced, U.S. defense planners recognized their ICBM arsenal was becoming increasing vulnerable.  The limitations of liquid-fueled, gantry-launched missiles, such as Atlas and Titan sparked fears that a Soviet first strike could potentially negate the U.S. ability to retaliate effectively.
 
For several reasons, the Minuteman was America’s first modern ICBM.  Chief among these was the missile’s use of solid fuel.  Using solid fuel meant that the missile did not require fueling prior to launch, differentiating it from the Atlas and Titan.  This substantially reduced the time between receiving launch orders and the missile launch.  Moreover, solid fuel is generally considered more reliable – solid-fuel engines are generally less complex, which reduces the number of failure points and simplifies maintenance.
 
Furthermore, solid fuel is less volatile, does not leak, or require refrigeration.  This stands in contrast to the liquid oxygen and Aerozine fuels which caused several major accidents with missiles like the Atlas and Titan. 
 
The Avco Corporation
Located in Wilmington, Massachusetts, Avco Manufacturing was the third-largest US producer of World War II materials. It became the Avco Corporation in 1959.
 
Avco Corporation was a US-based company that operated in the aerospace and defense industries. They manufactured aircraft engines, sensor systems, and other products to include air-launched weapons, battlefield munitions and submunitions, and ground and airborne surveillance systems.  It also specialized in vehicle protection and radiation detection systems, as well as aircraft engines.
 
Of note, Avco was involved in the Apollo space program and the development of ICBMs, and played a major role in the legendary Apollo missions of the 1960s and early 1970s.  NASA chose Avco to design and install the heat shield, and the defense company pioneered the heat-resistant material that charred to form a protective coating and block the heat from penetrating the space capsule.  It also developed Chartek fire-retardant material for the Apollo spacesuit, which delayed the suit's temperature build-up during a fire and could swell to six times its thickness to create a protective barrier.
 
In 1985, Textron acquired Avco, which nearly doubled in size with the acquisition, transitioned the business to Textron Defense Systems which evolved into today’s Textron Systems Weapons & Sensor Systems.  A leader in intelligence-gathering capabilities and advanced protection systems necessary for mission success, Weapons and Sensor Systems continues to provide these heat resistant materials—the thermal protection material of choice for the current NASA Orion Crew Exploration vehicle program.
 
Avco operates in the defense and aerospace industry, manufacturing air-launched weapons, submunitions, battlefield munitions and sensor systems, and ground and airborne surveillance systems.  It also specializes in vehicle protections and radiation detection systems, as well as aircraft engines.