Editing SSM-N-8 Regulus (section)

===Replacement and legacy===
Despite being the U.S. Navy's first underwater nuclear capability, the Regulus missile system had significant operational drawbacks. In order to launch, the submarine had to surface and assemble the missile in whatever sea conditions it was in. Because it required active radar guidance, which only had a range of {{cvt|225|nmi|mi km|abbr=on}}, the ship had to stay stationary on the surface to guide it to the target while effectively broadcasting its location. This guidance method was susceptible to jamming and since the missile was subsonic, the launch platform remained exposed and vulnerable to attack during its flight duration; destroying the ship would effectively disable the missile in flight.<ref name="DS">[http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-6.html Vought SSM-N-8/RGM-6 Regulus]. ''Designation-Systems.net''.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2018/05/10/a-view-from-the-deep/|title=A View from the Deep|last1=Wellerstein|first1=Alex|author-link1=Alex Wellerstein|date=10 May 2018|website=The Nuclear Secrecy Blog|access-date=15 June 2019}}</ref>

Production of Regulus was phased out in January 1959 with delivery of the 514th missile; in 1962, it was redesignated RGM-6.<ref name="DS"/> It was removed from service in August 1964. Some of the obsolete missiles were expended as targets at [[Eglin Air Force Base]], Florida. Regulus not only provided the first nuclear strategic deterrence force for the [[United States Navy]] during the first years of the [[Cold War]] and especially during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], preceding the [[UGM-27 Polaris|Polaris missile]]s, [[UGM-73 Poseidon|Poseidon missile]]s, and [[Trident (missile)|Trident missile]]s that followed, but it was also the forerunner of the [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk cruise missile]].[[File:Vought KDU-1 Regulus in flight.jpg|thumb|A KDU-1 target drone]]Following retirement, a number of Regulas I missiles were converted for [[target drone]] usage under the designation BQM-6C.<ref name="DS"/>