AGM-86 ALCM

The AGM-86 ALCM is an American subsonic air-launched cruise missile built by Boeing and operated by the United States Air Force, developed to let Boeing B-52G and B-52H Stratofortress bombers deliver their payloads from a great distance and to saturate enemy air defenses with numerous small, low-flying targets that were difficult to track on radar. The missile grew out of a decoy drone concept, was adapted in the 1960s to carry new lightweight nuclear warheads, and entered service in 1982 during the renewed American arms buildup of the late Cold War, prompting the Soviet Union to develop new countermeasures including airborne early warning aircraft and the Tor missile system. Its success also led the Air Force to develop the stealthier AGM-129 ACM, and surviving AGM-86A and AGM-86B examples are on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.