The North American AGM-28 Hound Dog (formerly designated GAM-77) was an American long-range air-to-surface guided stand-off bomb developed during the 1950's and first air launched in 1959, becoming standard equipment fitted to B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft. The AGM-28B was 12.95 metres long, 72 cm in diameter, weighed 4350 kg, had a range of 9765 km and flew at a speed of Mach 2. Research AGM-28
The Boeing B-52 is the US Air Force long range, large payload multi-role bomber and is known as the Stratofortress or the Buff (Big Ugly Fat Fellow). It is the USAF's principal strategic nuclear and conventional weapon platform, and also supports the US Navy in anti-surface and submarine warfare missions. It is the longest serving combat aircraft in the world - 104 B-52H's were built and the last was delivered in 1962. The B-52, with a weapons payload of more than 70,000 pounds, is capable of carrying the most diverse range of weapons of any combat aircraft. The nuclear weapons capacity includes 12 AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMS), 20 AGM-86A Air Launched Cruise Missiles (ALCM) and eight bombs. The conventional weapons carriage capability is eight AGM-84 Harpoon missiles, four AGM-142 Raptor missiles, 51 x 500 lb bombs, 30 x 1000 lb bombs, 20 AGM-86C Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCM), twelve Joint Stand Off Weapons (JSOW), twelve Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and sixteen Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD). The B-52 can also deliver 51 500lb, 30 1000lb and 20 2000lb navy mines. The B-52H is powered by eight Pratt and Whitney type TF33-P-3 turbofan engines each providing more than 17,000 pounds of thrust. The engines are mounted in pairs on sharply raked forward pods under the 185 feet wing. The aircraft has ten internal plus two external fuel tanks with a capacity of over 181,000 litres, which gives a non-refuelled range of more than 8,600 miles. The operational range with one air refuelling is 7,500 nautical miles. Research B-52 Stratofortress
The Northrop/NASA M2-F2 was an American wingless lifting-body re-entry research vehicle of the mid-1960's, first produced in 1965 and first flown in 1966, forming part of the research which was to develop the later Space Shuttle.
The M2-F2 was of a basic delta plan-form with a curved underside and flat top, resembling a rotated letter D, and was constructed mainly of parts from other aircraft including the nose unit of a North American CT-39 Sabreliner, albeit modified, and the underside of the fuselage of an HL-10.
Generally unpowered, the M2-F2 had provision to be fitted with a Thiokol XLR11 liquid-propellant rocket-engine to enable the aircraft to be air-launched from beneath the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress.
In 1967 the M2-F2 crashed on landing at the Rogers Dry LakeEdwardsAFB in California at the end of its sixteenth flight resulting in severe damage to the aircraft. Research M2-F2
The Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot (USAF designation X-24A) was an American single-seater rocket-powered lifting-body research aircraft developed during the 1960's after the basic design was proved by the unmanned X-23A model, and ordered by the USAF in 1966.
The Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot was powered by a Thiokol XLR11-RM-13 four-chamber liquid-propellant rocket-engine providing a speed of Mach 2. The Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot was designed to be carried to an altitude of 13700 metres under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress and released at a speed of Mach 0.6. The pilot then igniting the rocket engine and boosting the Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot to an altitude of 30500 metres and a speed of Mach 2 before being manoeuvred to a landing, with a total flight time of about fifteen minutes.
A turbo-jet powered model, the SV-5J was also produced and first exhibited at the 1967 Paris Air Show. The SV-5J was identical to the Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot but powered by a Pratt and Whitney J60 turbojet. Research Martin Marietta SV-5P Pilot
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research AGM-28
