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An AGM-86A ALCM (Air Launched Cruise Missile) undergoing final pre-delivery tests at the Boeing plant. Probably the greatest benefit of the cruise missile in time will be the financial drain it has caused the Soviet Union through having to develop a whole new family of expensive countermeasures to combat the threat, thus taking money away from offensive programmes.
Technology Explained – Cruise Missiles
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Cruise Missiles Part I
The Strategic Cruise Missile
One of the most insidious weapon systems ever conceived, the cruise missile is resurgent and as it appears will hold a significant place in the inventories of both the Free World and the Communist Bloc. After its initial debut in the form of the rudimentary but nevertheless deadly Fieseler V-1 the cruise missile slumped into obscurity, restrained by accuracy and range limitations imposed by the technology of the day.
The USAF’s Strategic Air Command (SAC) toyed with Cruise Missiles in the late fifties, but these were promptly discarded in favour of the ballistic missile. The Russians had more faith in the concept, developing a family of air-launched weapons to arm the Bear, Badger and Blinder bombers. The ultimate Societ answer to the problem was a fighter-sized turbojet-driven vehicle with a multi-megatonne nuclear warhead to achieve some sort of target kill probability, given the limitations in the guidance system.
This entire family of weapons was really developed to support the long-range high-altitude bomber, but as this delivery vehicle became less than viable due to advances in surface-to-air and air-to-air missile (SAM/AAM) technology, the weapons it carried suffered a similar fate (though it seems the Russians still maintain some of their earlier types in service). Emphasis was shifted to low altitude penetration, as evidenced by the deployment of the FB-111A, role revision of the B-52 and development of the B-1, protracted as it was.
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