Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
September 8, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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AGM-28
| Country: | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Hound Dog, GAM-77 |
| Class: | ALCM |
| Target: | Land |
| Length: | 12.95 m |
| Diameter: | 0.72 m |
| Launch Weight: | 4359.00 kg |
| Payload: | 1 MT nuclear |
| Propulsion: | Ramjet |
| Range: | 1180.00 km |
| Guidance: | INS |
| Status: | Superceded |
| In Service: | 1960-1976 |
Details
The AGM-28 “Hound Dog” (GAM-77) was an intermediate-range, air-launched, ramjet powered, single warhead cruise missile developed and manufactured by the United States.
The U.S. Air Force began studies for the development of an air-to-surface missile to be deployed on B-52 bomber aircraft in 1956. The idea was to provide a means to attack and destroy heavily defended enemy targets without subjecting the B-52s to heavy losses, as well as to attack and destroy portions of the enemy’s air defense system. The design requirements called for a 4.0 megaton nuclear warhead (later reduced to 1.0 megaton) with a maximum range of 560 km at Mach 2.0. In 1957, the contract to develop the GAM-77 was awarded to North American Aviation. The following year, growing concern about the unfavorable shift in the strategic balance with the Soviet Union prompted the U.S. Air Force to accelerate the development of the GAM-77, now known as the AGM-28 “Hound Dog.”
The AGM-28 “Hound Dog” was a streamlined missile with a delta-shaped wing configuration, the primary advantage of which was that the wing’s leading edge remained behind the shock wave generated by the nose of the AGM-28 when flying at supersonic speeds. The missile was 12.95 m in length, had a body diameter of 0.72 m, and a launch weight of 4,350 kg. It was powered by a ramjet engine with a cruising speed of Mach 2.0, and had a range of 1,180 km. The AGM-28 carried a 1.0 megaton nuclear warhead known as the W28, which had an explosive force equal to that of 1 million metric tons of TNT. The missile had an accuracy of 1,850 m circular error probability (CEP).
The first prototype AGM-28 was successfully tested in 1959, and the Strategic Air Command successfully deployed its first AGM-28A the following year. Each B-52 could carry two missiles beneath its wings. An improved version of the AGM-28, designated the AGM-28B (GAM-77A), was introduced into service in 1961. In 1976, the AGM-28 “Hound Dog” was phased out of service and replaced by the smaller AGM-69 Short-Range Attack Missile (SRAM).(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 42 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2005); GlobalSecurity.org, “AGM-28A Hound Dog,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/agm-28.htm, accessed on August 1, 2006.
