Introduced after the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, the Bomarc filled an anti-aircraft role as an unmanned long-range, surface-to-air weapon. By 1962 two RCAF Missile Squadrons were equipped with Bomarcs as part of the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD). Both squadrons formally disbanded on April 7, 1972. The Bomarcs were returned to the United States by September of that same year.
The Bomarc was a winged missile stored horizontally in a shelter from which it could be launched, after being raised vertically through a sliding roof. A solid-propellant booster rocket augmented the thrust of the two integral ramjet engines. Bomarc stands for Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center.
Manufactured in Seattle, Washington, this Bomarc served with the RCAF and the Canadian Armed Forces until 1972 when it was transferred to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.