Original vintage 1960s Avco Corporation advertisement for the company's re-entry vehicles, and arming/fuzing for the Atlas, Minuteman, Titan, and Polaris nuclear-capable ballistic missiles - "Sinews of strength take many forms.  America's mighty missiles stand ready.  Weapons of deterrence...the products of a dedicated partnership between the government and industry." 
 
Dimensions: Approx. 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
 
The UGM-27 Polaris SLBM
The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), and as the United States Navy's (USN) first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980.
 
In the mid-1950s, the USN was involved in the PGM-17 Jupiter liquid-fueled and nuclear-cable medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) project with the U.S. Army and had influenced the design by making it squat so it would fit in submarines.  
 
In 1956, during an anti-submarine study known as Project Nobska, nuclear weapons legend known as the “father of the hydrogen nuclear bomb,” Edward Teller suggested small hydrogen bomb warheads were possible.  A U.S. crash program to develop a missile suitable for carrying such warheads began as Polaris, which launched its first shot less than four years later, in February 1960.
 
As the Polaris missile was fired underwater from a moving platform, it was essentially invulnerable to counterattack.  This led the USN to suggest, in circa 1959, the USN be given the entire nuclear deterrent role, which led to new infighting between the USN and U.S. Air Force (USAF).  The latter responding by developing the counterforce concept that argued for the strategic bomber and ICBM as key elements in the U.S. policy of “flexible response.”  Polaris formed the backbone of the USN's nuclear force aboard a number of custom-designed submarines.  
 
The Polaris missile was gradually replaced on 31 of the 41 original SSBNs in the U.S. Navy by the multiple independent reentry vehicle (MIRV)-capable Poseidon missile beginning in 1972.  During the 1980s, these missiles were replaced on 12 of these submarines by the Trident I missile.  The 10 George Washington- and Ethan Allen-class SSBNs (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear, aka a nuclear-armed USN “boomer” sub) retained Polaris A-3 until 1980 because their missile tubes were not large enough to accommodate Poseidon.
 
With USS Ohio beginning sea trials in 1980, these submarines were disarmed and redesignated as attack submarines to avoid exceeding the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty II (SALT II) strategic arms treaty limits.
 
The Atlas ICBM
In the mid-1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in a bitter arms race, and both were racing to be the first to deploy a completely new class of weapons: long-range ICBMs.  The Air Force was developing Atlas (SM-65), the United States first ICBM, and in early 1958 it turned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build the launch sites for its new missile.
 
The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational ICBM developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family.  It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at an assembly plant located in San Diego.
 
Development dates to 1946, but over the next few years the project underwent several cancellations and re-starts.  The deepening of the Cold War and intelligence showing the Soviet Union was working on an ICBM design led to it becoming a crash project in late 1952, along with the creation of several other missile projects to ensure one would enter service as soon as possible.
 
These disadvantages had no bearing on its use for space launches, and Atlas-derived launch vehicles served a long history as launchers.  Even before its ICBM use ended in 1965, Atlas had placed four Project Mercury astronauts in orbit and was becoming the foundation for a family of successful space launch vehicles, most notably Atlas Agena and Atlas Centaur.  
 
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.