AGM-137 TSSAM

The Northrop AGM-137 was a missile developed by the United States of America.

Overview

The United States Air Force began developing the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) in 1986; the intent was to produce a family of stealthy missiles for the Air Force, Navy and Marines which would be capable of long range, autonomous guidance, automatic target recognition, and sufficient accuracy and warhead power to be capable of destroying well-protected structures either on land or at sea.

All versions of the missile would use inertial navigation aided by GPS. The Navy and one Air Force version were to use an imaging infrared terminal sensor to recognise the target and terminal homing, and would be fitted with a unitary warhead. A second Air Force missile would carry the Combined Effects Bomblet (CEB) submunition against land targets.

It was planned to carry the missile on the B-52H, F-16C/D, B-1, B-2, and F/A-18C/D.

The project suffered from budgetary problems, some related to the distribution of the budget between the three services. This resulted in funding shortfalls and delays. The missiles also suffered from technical development issues, pushing the unit cost from the original 1986 figure of $728,000 per missile to $2,062,000 in 1994. The project was cancelled as a result.

Although cancelled, technology developed for the TSSAM was used in the JASSM program.

pecifications

"Specifications are approximate"

*"Length" : 4.26 m (14 ft)
*"Weight" : 905 kg (2000 lb)
*"Warhead" : 450 kg (1,000 lb)
*"Range" : 185 km+ (115 miles+)
*"Guidance" : Inertial/GPS, IIR terminal
*"Propulsion" : Turbofan

ee also

*AGM-158 JASSM
*List of missiles

External links

* [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-137.html Northrop AGM/MGM-137 TSSAM - Designation Systems]