Perseus

In Greek mythology, Perseus (/ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans, was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer of monsters before the days of Heracles. Perseus beheaded the Gorgon Medusa and saved Andromeda from the sea monster Cetus. Perseus was the son of the mortal Danaë and the god Zeus. He was also the great grandfather of Heracles, also a son of Zeus.

Etymology

Because of the obscurity of the name Perseus and the legendary character of its bearer, most etymologists pass it by, on the presumption that it might be pre-Greek; however, the name of Perseus’ native city was Greek and so were the names of his wife and relatives. There is some prospect that it descended into Greek from the Proto-Indo-European language. In that regard Robert Graves has espoused the only Greek derivation available. Perseus might be from the Greek verb, "πέρθειν" (perthein), “to waste, ravage, sack, destroy”, some form of which appears in Homeric epithets. According to Carl Darling Buck (Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin), the –eus suffix is typically used to form an agent noun, in this case from the aorist stem, pers-. Pers-eus therefore is a sacker of cities; that is, a soldier by occupation, a fitting name for the first Mycenaean warrior.

Perseus (spy)

Perseus was the code name of a possible Soviet spy alleged to have breached U.S. national security at Los Alamos during the Manhattan project. This name is also given to a spy at White Sands Missile Range, located further south near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Evidence for his or her existence is based on a few references in KGB archives opened (and later closed) to researchers in the early 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union. There are also a few references to Perseus in the Venona project decrypts as PERS. The identity of this person, or even whether or not they actually existed, is unknown, and many of the facts in the matter are questionable.

The first person to publicly write about atomic spy Perseus was Russian intelligence Colonel Vladimir Chikov. Starting in 1991 he wrote a number of articles in Russian periodicals that discussed Perseus. Later in 1996 he published a book with American co-author Gary Kern titled, How Stalin Stole the Atomic Bomb from the Americans (published in France in French).

Perseus (missile)

Perseus or CVS401 Perseus - named after the hero Perseus (Greek: Περσεύς) from Greek mythology - is a stealth supersonic cruise missile currently under development by MBDA in consultation with the Royal Navy and French Navy. The weapon was first unveiled at the 2011 Paris Air Show. CVS401 Perseus is primarily a supersonic surface-launched and submarine-launched cruise missile built around an advanced, agile and stealth aircraft airframe.

Characteristics

MBDA describes the missile as a "Unique multi-role, multi-Platform weapon system" to be integrated on all major weapon platforms such as; warships, submarines, aircraft and land-based platforms.

The stealthy Perseus missile is planned to have a range of 300 km reaching speeds of Mach 3. It is powered by a ramjet motor, built around a highly compact Continuous Detonation Wave Engine (CDWE). The missile is 5 metres in length and weighs around 800 kg, with a 200 kg "main" warhead. In addition to the main warhead, Perseus is equipped with 2x 40–50 kg inertially guided effectors (submunitions) from lateral bays which can be released before the missile hits its target. This unique feature allows Perseus to strike either several targets in the same area, or to strike a singular large one - such as an Aircraft carrier - in several different areas at once for maximum destruction. "In this case, a linear attack pattern could be selected, munitions striking the forward, centre and aft sections simultaneously. If a unitary blast is required, then the effectors remain on board the parent missile to add their blast effect to the central warhead."