Boeing AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM)
The increasing sophistication of Soviet air defenses meant that USAF bombers would find it difficult to penetrate Soviet airspace and reach their targets with nuclear bombs. Though some consideration was given to simply eliminating bombers from the nuclear triad, the bombers were retained since they were the only nuclear weapons that could be recalled once in the air. To survive, the USAF began developing standoff air-launched missiles.
Cruise missiles were not new technology--the first, the Kettering Bug, had been experimented with during World War I--but the problem was to marry range, accuracy, and a big enough nuclear warhead to destroy a target. The USAF's first attempt was the AGM-28 Hound Dog, but while successful, it was so huge that only the B-52 could carry it, and only two at a time. The next to be introduced was the smaller AGM-69 SRAM (Short Range Attack Missile), which could be carried by the B-52 and the FB-111 in anywhere from four to eight missiles. The idea with the SRAM was that the attacking bomber would fire a few to destroy Soviet air defenses, then fly through the gap and fire the rest at the target. The SRAM, however, only had a range of about 50 miles.
Beginning in 1974, Boeing was awarded the contract to build a replacement for both the remaining Hound Dogs and eventually the SRAM, mainly for use on the B-1A. Known simply as the ALCM (Air Launched Cruise Missile), the weapon was even smaller than the SRAM, but could carry the same 150-kiloton warhead. It would be dropped from the bomb bay, where its turbofan engine would activate and the tail and wings--folded back while on the rail--would deploy. It would then use a preprogrammed mission profile, using its radar to compare the terrain below with the programmed map to stay on course. With a range of about 700 miles, the bomber would not even have to enter Soviet airspace before launch, or could stay there for a minimal amount of time. It was designated AGM-86A.
The B-1A was cancelled by the Carter Administration in 1977, but this allowed Boeing to develop the larger and longer-ranged AGM-86B. These could be carried either on rotary launchers in a B-52's (and later the B-1B's and B-2A's) bomb bay, or on external pylons. A single B-52 could carry at least a dozen ALCMs: several bombers would launch their missiles and saturate Soviet defenses with dozens, if not hundreds of ALCMs. Given the missile's small size, ability to fly at low level, and the initial lack of Soviet interceptors to "look down shoot down" at targets below them, the ALCM restored USAF bombers as real threats to the USSR. The Soviets regarded both the AGM-86 and the Army and Navy's similar BGM-109 Tomahawk as destabilizing weapons in the late Cold War.
The AGM-86 is still in service and remains the primary standoff weapon for USAF bombers. The AGM-86B has been replaced with the AGM-86C/D series, which can carry a conventional warhead (either as a blast warhead or with a bunker penetrator). These have been upgraded to use GPS guidance rather than the earlier terrain-following radar, making them even more accurate.
ALCMs were never used during the Cold War, but have seen extensive use since--mainly against Iraq, in Operations Desert Storm (1991), Desert Fox (1998), and Iraqi Freedom (2003). They proved extremely difficult to intercept by Iraqi ground defenses, especially when paired with ground-launched drones simulating cruise missile profiles. The USAF initially planned to retire the AGM-86 series in 2020 and replace them with the AGM-158 JASSM, but this has since been pushed back in favor of an update program.
This AGM-86B on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah is painted as a test missile; the black lines and white finish is for photography purposes, and the Boeing and ALCM sigils were strictly for publicity. Operational ALCMs are painted a low-visibility gray with no markings.
Boeing AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM)
The increasing sophistication of Soviet air defenses meant that USAF bombers would find it difficult to penetrate Soviet airspace and reach their targets with nuclear bombs. Though some consideration was given to simply eliminating bombers from the nuclear triad, the bombers were retained since they were the only nuclear weapons that could be recalled once in the air. To survive, the USAF began developing standoff air-launched missiles.
Cruise missiles were not new technology--the first, the Kettering Bug, had been experimented with during World War I--but the problem was to marry range, accuracy, and a big enough nuclear warhead to destroy a target. The USAF's first attempt was the AGM-28 Hound Dog, but while successful, it was so huge that only the B-52 could carry it, and only two at a time. The next to be introduced was the smaller AGM-69 SRAM (Short Range Attack Missile), which could be carried by the B-52 and the FB-111 in anywhere from four to eight missiles. The idea with the SRAM was that the attacking bomber would fire a few to destroy Soviet air defenses, then fly through the gap and fire the rest at the target. The SRAM, however, only had a range of about 50 miles.
Beginning in 1974, Boeing was awarded the contract to build a replacement for both the remaining Hound Dogs and eventually the SRAM, mainly for use on the B-1A. Known simply as the ALCM (Air Launched Cruise Missile), the weapon was even smaller than the SRAM, but could carry the same 150-kiloton warhead. It would be dropped from the bomb bay, where its turbofan engine would activate and the tail and wings--folded back while on the rail--would deploy. It would then use a preprogrammed mission profile, using its radar to compare the terrain below with the programmed map to stay on course. With a range of about 700 miles, the bomber would not even have to enter Soviet airspace before launch, or could stay there for a minimal amount of time. It was designated AGM-86A.
The B-1A was cancelled by the Carter Administration in 1977, but this allowed Boeing to develop the larger and longer-ranged AGM-86B. These could be carried either on rotary launchers in a B-52's (and later the B-1B's and B-2A's) bomb bay, or on external pylons. A single B-52 could carry at least a dozen ALCMs: several bombers would launch their missiles and saturate Soviet defenses with dozens, if not hundreds of ALCMs. Given the missile's small size, ability to fly at low level, and the initial lack of Soviet interceptors to "look down shoot down" at targets below them, the ALCM restored USAF bombers as real threats to the USSR. The Soviets regarded both the AGM-86 and the Army and Navy's similar BGM-109 Tomahawk as destabilizing weapons in the late Cold War.
The AGM-86 is still in service and remains the primary standoff weapon for USAF bombers. The AGM-86B has been replaced with the AGM-86C/D series, which can carry a conventional warhead (either as a blast warhead or with a bunker penetrator). These have been upgraded to use GPS guidance rather than the earlier terrain-following radar, making them even more accurate.
ALCMs were never used during the Cold War, but have seen extensive use since--mainly against Iraq, in Operations Desert Storm (1991), Desert Fox (1998), and Iraqi Freedom (2003). They proved extremely difficult to intercept by Iraqi ground defenses, especially when paired with ground-launched drones simulating cruise missile profiles. The USAF initially planned to retire the AGM-86 series in 2020 and replace them with the AGM-158 JASSM, but this has since been pushed back in favor of an update program.
This AGM-86B on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum in Utah is painted as a test missile; the black lines and white finish is for photography purposes, and the Boeing and ALCM sigils were strictly for publicity. Operational ALCMs are painted a low-visibility gray with no markings.