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47-555: The LBD-1 Gargoyle (later KSD-1 , KUD-1 and RTV-N-2 ) was an American air-to-surface missile developed during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy . One of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles , it was extensively used as a test vehicle during the late 1940s. Following the successful use of the German Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz-X guided bombs in combat during 1943,

94-424: A B-52 on a radar display . Quail was designed in the mid-1950s when the normal attack profile for a strategic bomber was to fly as high and fast as possible to reduce the time the defenders had to respond to the aircraft before it flew out of range. This was effective against interceptor aircraft but of little use against surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), whose attack times were measured in seconds. This led to

141-421: A conventional or nuclear warhead. The LRSO program is to develop a weapon that can penetrate and survive integrated air defense systems and prosecute strategic targets. Both conventional and nuclear versions of the weapon are required to reach initial operational capability (IOC) before the retirement of their respective ALCM versions, around 2030. The technology development contracts were to be submitted before

188-518: A decoy. This would allow it to act as a decoy for much of its flight, and then deliberately approach a selected defensive site and attack it. As such, the program was renamed Subsonic Cruise Armed Decoy, retaining the SCAD acronym. For this role, the accuracy of the original INS guidance hardware was not enough. While a similar system was also used in SRAM, its shorter range and much shorter flight times meant

235-564: A different role; for example, the AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile is a land-attack version of the Harpoon. A major advantage of air-to-surface missiles for ground attack by aircraft is the standoff distance they provide: missiles can be launched from a distance without coming within range of the target's air defences. Most air-to-surface missiles are fire-and-forget from a standoff distance, allowing

282-631: A long-range drone aircraft that would act as a decoy, distracting Soviet air defenses from the bombers. As new lightweight nuclear weapons emerged in the 1960s, the design was modified with the intent of attacking missile and radar sites at the end of its flight. Further development extended its range so much that it emerged as a weapon allowing the B-52s to launch their attacks while still well outside Soviet airspace, saturating their defenses with hundreds of tiny, low-flying targets that were extremely difficult to see on radar. Entering service in 1982 as part of

329-479: A pure research effort. The aerodynamic design of Gargoyle was, however, considered to be satisfactory from an aerodynamic standpoint; however, with the end of the war, the contract was reduced first to 375 missiles, and then to 200, with the production run being completed by the summer of 1947. That fall the Gargoyle was redesignated again under the U.S. Navy's new missile designation system, first to RTV-2 and then to

376-576: A requirement was issued by the U.S. Navy that October for a guided weapon based on similar principles. Assigned as part of the Glomb ("glide bomb") project, the weapon was code-named "Gargoyle", and following the completion of design work in the summer of 1944, McDonnell Aircraft was awarded a contract for a test-and-evaluation production run of 400 Gargoyles in September, given the designation LBD-1. Intended for carriage by carrier-based aircraft , Gargoyle

423-665: A result of the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty requirement to go below 2,200 deployed nuclear weapons by 2012, with the AGM-129 ACM chosen for disposal because it has reliability problems and high maintenance costs. Even with the SLEP (service life extension program), the remaining AGM-86s were to reach their end of service by 2020, leaving the B-52 without a nuclear mission. However, in 2012,

470-472: A terrain contour-matching guidance system ( TERCOM ) to fly to its assigned target. It can carry a single W80 thermonuclear warhead, with a yield of 5 or 150 kilotons. A modified variant of the B61 , it was mainly designed for use on ground and air-launched cruise missiles. The AGM-86C/D CALCM carries a conventional high-explosive payload rather than a thermonuclear payload. This is a fragmentation warhead in

517-604: Is an American subsonic air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) built by Boeing and operated by the United States Air Force . This missile was developed to increase the effectiveness and survivability of the Boeing B-52G and B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers , allowing the aircraft to deliver its payload from a great distance. The missile dilutes an enemy's forces ability to respond and complicates air defense of its territory. The concept started as

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564-579: Is some cross-over between air-to-surface missiles and surface-to-surface missiles . For example, there was an air-launched version of the Tomahawk missile , superseded by the AGM-86 ALCM . Other missiles used in both roles include the Penguin and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles . Many air-to-surface missiles can be used against both ships and land targets, although some must be modified to perform

611-537: The AGM-65 Maverick ) have a much longer range when launched at altitude. There have been examples of air-launched ballistic missiles ( Air Launched ICBM , GAM-87 Skybolt ), but they are rare. Sometimes air-to-surface missiles are divided into the categories of tactical and strategic . Typically missiles with chemical explosive or small nuclear warheads are classed as tactical, and large nuclear warheads as strategic. AGM-86 ALCM The AGM-86 ALCM

658-769: The Cold War led to cutbacks in this program, and its expensive maintenance eventually resulted in it being abandoned in favor of life extensions to the original ALCM. Examples of the AGM-86A and AGM-86B are on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum , near Washington, D.C. The ALCM traces its history to the ADM-20 Quail missile, which began development in February 1956. Quail

705-598: The SA-2 Guideline missiles it faced. Flying at Mach 3, it quickly flew out in front of the bombers, reaching the missile site before the bomber flew into the range of the SA-2. While highly capable against known missile locations, SRAM could do nothing to defend against unknown sites, nor help with the problem of interceptor aircraft. To deal with these threats, Quail continued to be carried, typically in pairs, providing some defense against these other threats. However, by

752-456: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center . Related lists Air-to-surface missile Guidance for air-to-surface missiles is typically via laser guidance , infrared guidance , optical guidance or via satellite guidance signals. The type of guidance depends on the type of target. Ships, for example, may be detected via passive radar or active radar homing , which is less effective against multiple, small, fast-moving land targets. There

799-460: The drift rate of the system was not a serious concern as long as the bomber could feed it accurate information just before launch, to "zero out" the drift. In contrast, SCAD was designed to fly over much longer ranges and slower speeds, resulting in longer flight times and increasing the problem with drift; even with the drift "zeroed out" just before launch, subsequent drift during the longer flight would accumulate to an unacceptable error. To provide

846-509: The AGM-86C and a unitary penetrating warhead in the AGM-86D. The AGM-86C/D uses an onboard Global Positioning System (GPS) coupled with its inertial navigation system (INS) to navigate in flight. This allows the missile to guide itself to the target with pinpoint accuracy. Litton Guidance and Control , and Interstate Electronics Corporation (one of the companies acquired by L3Harris ) were

893-661: The Air Force and Navy were ordered to collaborate under the "Joint Cruise Missile Project", JCMP, with the intention of using as many parts in common as possible. After considering the two designs, the Air Force agreed to modify the ALCM with the SLCM's McDonnell Douglas AN/DPW-23 TERCOM system, as well as using its Williams F107 turbofan engine. While the JCMP program was taking place, the B-1

940-546: The Air Force had also issued a requirement for a version with a much longer 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) range. This would allow the bombers to launch their missiles from far off the Russian coast, placing it outside the range of the interceptors as well. To reach the intended range, this new Extended Range Version (ERV) would have to be lengthened to contain more fuel, or external fuel tanks would have to be added. Either change would make it too large to fit on

987-412: The B model's TERCOM and integrated a GPS capability with the existing inertial navigation system computer . In 1996 and 1997, 200 additional CALCMs were produced from excess ALCMs. These missiles, designated Block I, incorporate improvements such as a larger and improved conventional payload (1,360 kg, 3,000 lb blast class), a multi-channel GPS receiver and integration of the buffer box into

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1034-563: The B-52G with the 416th Bombardment Wing / 668th Bombardment Squadron, Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. Eventually, the missile was deployed across the entire B-52G and B-52H fleet throughout Strategic Air Command. Integration and successful flight testing did occur with the B-1B (involving moving the bulkhead between the forward and intermediate stores bay forward one position) - however the AGM-86

1081-611: The GPS receiver. The upgraded avionics package was retrofitted into all existing CALCM (Block 0) so all AGM-86C missiles are electronically identical. All variants of the AGM-86 missile are powered by a Williams F107 turbofan jet engine that propels it at sustained subsonic speeds and can be launched from aircraft at both high and low altitudes. The missile deploys its folded wings, tail surfaces and engine inlet after launch. AGM-86B/C/D missiles increase flexibility in target selection. AGM-86B missiles can be air-launched in large numbers by

1128-576: The SRAM launchers and the extended-fuselage version would be too large to fit in the bomb bay of the new B-1 Lancer bomber. The Air Force intended to replace the original ALCM with the new version at some future date. The Navy was also in the midst of its own cruise missile project, the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM), which ultimately emerged as the BGM-109 Tomahawk , which was similar to ALCM in many ways. In 1977,

1175-647: The USAF announced plans to extend the useful life of the missiles until at least 2030. To replace the ALCM, the USAF planned to award a contract for the development of the new Long-Range Stand-Off (LRSO) weapon in 2015. Unlike the AGM-86, the LRSO will be carried on multiple aircraft, including the B-52, the B-2 Spirit , and the Northrop Grumman B-21 . Like the AGM-86, the LRSO can be armed with either

1222-517: The accuracy needed to attack the SAM sites with a small warhead, some system was needed to zero out the drift in-flight, and for this need, a radar-based TERCOM system was added. Development was approved in July 1970, and it was given the designation ZAGM-86A, the Z indicating its initial development status. As SCAD moved from the pure-decoy role to decoy-and-attack, this meant it would be able to carry out

1269-410: The adoption of low-level attacks, where the bombers would fly below the radar horizon so they could not be seen on ground-based radars. Quail, originally designed for the high-altitude mission, was modified with the addition of a barometric altimeter to allow it to fly at lower altitudes. Doing so seriously limited its effective range and flight time. In the early 1960s, the Air Force began to question

1316-488: The attacker to withdraw without approaching further after launch. Some missiles (typically cruise missiles or anti-ship missiles) have long enough range to be launched over the horizon, finding the target autonomously. Sub-categories of air-to-surface missiles include: Typically, the higher and faster the launching aircraft is flying, the longer the reach of a particular missile is. For long-range missiles this difference can be relatively small, but short-range missiles (like

1363-591: The bomber force. B-52H bombers carry six AGM-86B or AGM-86C missiles on each of two externally mounted pylons and eight internally on a rotary launcher, giving the B-52H a maximum capacity of 20 missiles per aircraft. An enemy force would have to counterattack each of the missiles individually, making defense against them costly and complicated. The enemy's defenses are further hampered by the missiles' small size and low-altitude flight capability, which makes them difficult to detect on radar . The nuclear armed AGM-86B uses

1410-558: The definitive RTV-N-2 in 1948. Testing continued through December 1950, Gargoyle being used to trial equipment and procedures for the Navy's other missile programs at the Marine Corps Auxiliary Air Station Mojave , before the program was finally terminated, the remaining RTV-N-2s being designated for scrapping. A Gargoyle that was donated to the National Air and Space Museum in 1974 is on display at

1457-525: The end of 2012. In March 2014 a further three-year delay in the project was announced by the Department of Defense, delaying a contract award until fiscal year 2018. The House Armed Services Committee moved to reject this delay. The delay was caused by financial pressures and an uncertain acquisition plan, and allowed by the long remaining service life left for the AGM-86 and lack of urgent necessity compared to other defense needs. As of August 24, 2017,

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1504-534: The first time in March 1976, and its new guidance system was first tested that September. In January 1977, the missile was ordered into full-scale production. Compared to the models that entered service in the 1980s, the A-model had a distinctive look; the nose tapered sharply to a triangular point giving it a shark-like appearance, compared to the later models which had a more rounded conventional appearance. Meanwhile,

1551-459: The first weapons to the Navy at the end of 1944 flight trials were begun in March 1945. Difficulties encountered during the test program meant that by July only five of fourteen tests were considered to be "satisfactory" by the Navy, and the first fully successful flight did not occur until July 1946. By then Gargoyle had been redesignated twice, to KSD-1 in October 1945 and in early 1946 to KUD-1 as

1598-515: The guidance contractors for the C model. The CALCM became operational in January 1991 at the onset of Operation Desert Storm . Seven B-52Gs from Barksdale AFB launched 35 missiles at designated launch points in the U.S. Central Command 's area of responsibility to attack high-priority targets in Iraq . These "round-robin" missions marked the beginning of the operation's Air Force component and were

1645-567: The late 1960s the Air Force concluded "that the Quail was only slightly better than nothing." In January 1968, a new requirement emerged for a modern version of Quail for this new mission, the Subsonic Cruise Aircraft Decoy, or SCAD. SCAD was designed specifically to fit onto the same rotary launcher used by SRAM, allowing a single aircraft to carry multiple SRAM and SCAD and launch either at any time. This led to it being

1692-567: The longest known aircraft combat sorties in history at the time (more than 14,000 miles (23,000 km) and 35 hours of flight). CALCM's next employment occurred in September 1996 during Operation Desert Strike . In response to Iraq's continued hostilities against the Kurds in northern Iraq, the Air Force launched 13 CALCMs in a joint attack with the Navy . This mission has put the CALCM program in

1739-735: The renewed American arms buildup during the Late Cold War , the ALCM so improved the capabilities of the US bomber force that the Soviets developed new technologies to counter the weapon. Among these were airborne early warning aircraft and new weapons like the MiG-31 and Tor missile system specifically to shoot down the AGM-86. The Air Force responded with the development of the AGM-129 ACM , which included stealth capabilities. The ending of

1786-490: The same 14 foot (4.3 m) length as SRAM, and the use of a fuselage with a triangular cross-section, which maximized the usable volume on the rotary launchers. The system was otherwise similar to Quail, using a simple inertial navigation system (INS) allowing the missile to fly a pre-programmed course. Soon after development began, it was noted that the very small nuclear warheads being developed at that time could be fit to SCAD without seriously affecting its performance as

1833-557: The same mission as SRAM, but from much longer range. This would reduce the need for a decoy. Accordingly, in June 1973, SCAD was canceled in favor of a system dedicated purely to the long-range attack mission. The original designation number remained, but the name changed to reflect the new mission, becoming the Air Launched Cruise Missile, or ALCM. The first example, similar to the original SCAD in most ways, flew for

1880-604: The spotlight for future modifications. Operation Desert Strike was also the combat debut of the B-52H and the carriage of the CALCM on the weapons bay-mounted Common Strategic Rotary Launcher (CSRL). During the Operation Desert Storm, the CALCM had been carried on the B-52G and wing-mounted pylons. The CALCM was also used in Operation Desert Fox in 1998, Operation Allied Force in 1999, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Operation Iraqi Freedom

1927-569: The usefulness of Quail in the face of improving Soviet defenses. Looking for another solution to the Soviet SAM problem, in 1964 the Air Force began developing a new system that would directly attack the missile sites rather than confuse them. This emerged as the AGM-69 SRAM , with a range of about 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi), allowing it to be launched from outside the roughly 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) range of

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1974-494: Was also the combat debut of the AGM-86D, a further development of the missile which replaced the blast/fragmentation warhead of the AGM-86C with a penetrating warhead. In 2007 the USAF announced its intention to retire all of its AGM-129 ACMs and to reduce the ALCM fleet by more than 500 missiles, leaving 528 nuclear cruise missiles. The ALCM force will be consolidated at Minot Air Force Base , North Dakota , and all excess cruise missile bodies will be destroyed. The reductions are

2021-730: Was canceled. This eliminated the need for ALCM to fit in the B-1's bomb bay, and the length limitations that implied. The Air Force decided to cancel production of the A-model ALCM, and replace it with either an air-launched version of the SLCM, or the ERV. The ERV flew in August 1979, and was declared the winner of the head-to-head fly-off against the SLCM in March 1980. Production of the initial 225 AGM-86B missiles began in fiscal year 1980. The AGM-86B reached operational status in December 1982, on

2068-524: Was fitted to provide terminal boost to 600 miles per hour (970 km/h), and guidance was by radio command , the missile being tracked visually via a flare mounted in the tail section. The effective range of Gargoyle was 5 miles (8.0 km) when released at an altitude of 27,000 feet (8,200 m). Gargoyle's armor-piercing capability and the fact that it could be carried by carrier-based aircraft allowed development to continue despite late-war rationalizations of missile projects, and following delivery of

2115-530: Was never operationally deployed on the B-1. Production of a total 1,715 missiles was completed in October 1986. More than 100 launches have taken place since then, with a 90% approximate success rate. In June 1986 a limited number of AGM-86B missiles were converted to carry a high-explosive blast/fragmentation warhead and an internal GPS. They were redesignated as the AGM-86C CALCM (Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile). This modification also replaced

2162-501: Was of fairly conventional small-aircraft design, weighing 1,500 pounds (680 kg) when ready for launch, and fitted with a low-mounted 8-foot-6-inch (2.59 m) wing and v-tail attached to a streamlined fuselage , 10 feet 1 inch (3.07 m) in length, containing a 1,000-pound (450 kg) armor-piercing bomb . An Aerojet solid-propellant rocket , of the JATO type and providing 1,000  lbf (4.4  kN ) of thrust,

2209-531: Was the ultimate outcome of several similar programs to develop a small decoy aircraft that would be launched from bombers during their approach to targets, presenting false targets to saturate the defenses and allow the bombers to escape an attack. The small jet-powered drone aircraft had a simple inertial navigation system (INS) that allowed it to fly a pre-programmed course that would make it visible to known Soviet defensive sites. A number of radar jammers and radar reflectors were intended to make it appear like

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