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I've seen a photograph of an early Pershing II test vehicle that consisted of just the four-finned *first* stage, topped by the four-finned MARV (MAneuverable Re-entry Vehicle). This stubby-looking vehicle (which would also make a fine scale model rocket) was flown at White Sands rather than at Cape Canaveral. My guess is that it was for testing the MARV's precision-impact terminal guidance radar on land targets without flying beyond the WSMR's rather small range boundaries, which the all-up, two-stage Pershing II would have done unless it was launched nearly straight up (which wouldn't have produced a lower-angled, operational-type trajectory, being a high, sounding rocket-type trajectory instead; also, it could have easily escaped the range had it gone awry).
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