Click on this banner to see the site home page.

Cruise Missiles

v1.3.0 / TOC / 01 oct 02 / greg goebel / public domain

* The concept of using a pilotless aircraft as a flying bomb, or "aerial torpedo", goes back to the First World War, but it wasn't until modern electronics technology was developed that the idea became truly practical. Now cruise missiles are an important weapon in the arsenals of modern military forces. This document provides a history of the cruise missile and details of current cruise missile technology.

[1.0] The Aerial Torpedo

• [1.1] SPERRY AERIAL TORPEDO / KETTERING BUG
  
• [1.2] BRITISH AERIAL TORPEDOES
  
• [1.3] WORLD WAR II AERIAL TORPEDOES
  

[2.0] The V-1 Flying Bomb

• [2.1] V-1 DEVELOPMENT
  
• [2.2] V-1 DETAILS
  
• [2.3] THE FLYING BOMB BLITZ
  
• [2.4] FIGHTING THE FLYING BOMB
  
• [2.5] LAST GASP OF THE FLYING BOMB
  
• [2.6] USAAF JB-2 / JB-1
  

[3.0] Cruise Missiles Of The 1950s & 1960s

• [3.1] AIR FORCE MATADOR / MACE / BLUE & RED RAPIER
  
• [3.2] US NAVY RGM-6 REGULUS / RGM-15 REGULUS II
  
• [3.3] AIR FORCE SNARK
  
• [3.4] NAVAHO / TRITON
  
• [3.5] US AIR FORCE HOUND DOG
  
• [3.6] WESTERN LONG-RANGE ASMS: RASCAL / BLUE STEEL / SKYBOLT / SRAM
  
• [3.7] FOOTNOTE: PROJECT PLUTO
  

[4.0] ALCM & SLCM

• [4.1] ORIGINS OF ALCM & SLCM
  
• [4.2] AGM-86B ALCM
  
• [4.3] AGM-86C CALCM
  
• [4.4] AGM-129 ACM
  
• [4.5] TOMAHAWK SLCM: ORIGINS
  
• [4.6] TOMAHAWK SLCM: DETAILS
  
• [4.7] US CRUISE MISSILES IN COMBAT
  
• [4.8] SLCM & ALCM ENHANCEMENTS / FUTURE US CRUISE MISSILE PLANS
  
• [4.9] FRENCH CRUISE MISSILES
  

[5.0] Soviet / Russian Cruise Missiles

• [5.1] SOVIET AIR-LAUNCHED CRUISE MISSILES & LONG-RANGE ASMS
  
• [5.2] SOVIET SHIP-LAUNCHED CRUISE MISSILES
  
• [5.3] MODERN RUSSIAN CRUISE MISSILES
  
• [5.4] CHINESE CRUISE MISSILES
  
• [5.5] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY