Like its predecessor, the Matador, the Mace was a tactical surface-launched missile designed to destroy ground targets.Ú It was first designed as the TM-76 and later the MGM-13.Ú It was launched from a mobile trailer or from a bomb-proof shelter by a solid-fuel rocket booster which dropped away after launch; Ú a J33 jet engine then powered the missile to the target.Ú Development began in 1954 and the first test firing occurred in 1956.

The Mace "A" employed a terrain-matching radar guidance system known as "ATRAN" (Automatic Terrain Recognition and Navigation) in which the return from a radar scanning antenna was matched with a series of "maps" carried on board the missile which corrected the flight path if it deviated from the film map.Ú The Mace "B" used a jam-proof inertial guidance system.Ú It had a range of twice that of the "A."

Mace "A" missiles were first deployed to USAF forces in Europe in the spring of 1959.Ú These remained in service until the mid-60s, when some were used as target drones since size and performance resembled that of manned aircraft.Ú Development of the "B" missiles began in 1964 and remained operational in Europe and the Pacific until the early 1970s.

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center had worldwide logistics management responsibility for the Mace throughout its service life.Ú In 1984, the Mace "B" on display was acquired from the City of Warner Robins, Georgia where it had been on display in a city park.