Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 8, Nr 3, 1978. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

4.~ERIC4.~ CRUISE ~ISSILES

lTU. W. WARU

Mankind's stnvlng to establish a superior poten- After the Second World War the development tial for extermination of antagonistic fellow beings, of cruise was pursued mostly however as a deterrent to those whom he feels threaten taking a back seat to the development of manned his way of life or even existence, has motivated aircraft and rockets. the development of successive generations of 'super weapons' and counter weapons. Thus it is In America however, before the advent of the that we now hear the acclaimation for what sup- 'ultimate weapon' - the Inter-Continental Bal- poses to be the newest brainchild of this human listic (ICBM) overshadowed all else, some fear and insecurity, the American cruise missiles. cruise missiles were taken into service by both the Much has been written about this new American United State's Air Force and Navy. 'wonder weapon' and its capabilities which will argueably give America an advantage over the The first to enter service with the Soviet Union in the event of an 'ultimate con- United State's Air Force was the TM-67 Manin flict'. Matador. This missile in arming Pilotless Bomber Squadrons in Germany in 1954 became the first cruise missile to serve after the V- 7. Powered But just what is a cruise missile? The term is by an Allison turbojet the Matador is described somewhat vulnerable to ambiguous interpretation as a swept-wing pilotless aircraft, which had a as the weapon is actually a hybrid of features cruising speed of some 600 mph and a range from other specific weapon categories. A working quoted as 500 miles. The Matador was, however, definition used by the United State's Navy and Air subject to guidance limitations. The system of Force describes the cruise missile as an unmanned command radio guidance they employed, required weapon system which: the missile to be constantly in view of a net- work of ground radars. Positive control was Has a warhead (either conventional or nuclearl therefore only possible to the limits Ispropelled bV an air-breathing engine. of the last ground station. Operates in sustained aerodynamic flight (that is, uses wings for lift like an airplaneJ. An improved version of the Matador, the TM-76 Mace, followed into the United State's Air Force Considering the concept in the light of this inventory, being deployed in Germany in 1959. definition we may conclude that the cruise missile Mace, using an uprated version of the Allison is not a new phenomena. Cruise missiles were then J33 turbojet engine used on Matador, could cruise first used operationally from June 1944; this paGe- faster and had a greater range. Its greatest setter was then the German V-7 flying bomb of the advantage was, however, the improved guidance Second World War. This was the introduction system. Early models of the Mace TM-76A were of a new dimension to warfare. Weighing 5000 equipped with the Goodyear Atran guidance pounds, 27 feet long and 33 inches in diameter, system, overcoming the line-of-sight limitations of this ramjet-powered cruise missile carried a 2 000 Ib the Matador. The Atran system was a terrain- warhead over distances of up to 500 miles. recognition which compared the Despite inspiring initial dread probably comparable terrain below the missile with the pre-programmed to Hannibal's use of elephants, the V-7 was not flight path plotted over a strip map. This very effective as a weapon, plagued by the pro- system is however considered to have been ahead blem that was to prove to be the most marked of its time and on later, longer range versions weakness of cruise missiles - guidance! The of Mace, the TM-76B, were guided by an accuracy of the V-7 could hardly be called Achiever internal guidance system. deadly at the best of times, and total guidance failures of the present autopilot were not un- The United State's Air Force also accepted into common. service an intercontinental-range cruise missile;

20 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 8, Nr 3, 1978. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

this was the SM-62 Northrop developed Snark. attention to cruise missiles of late, America's This was a subsonic weapon powered by a Pratt development of a new generation of strategic and Whitney turbojet engine and said to have a cruise missiles. The cruise missile owes this 5000 mile range. The guidance system was an new found strategic value largely to improved unusual hybrid, combining celestial (star-tracking) guidance techniques, although also to the develop- and internal functions; after initial problems with ment of small lightweight turbofan engines with this navigational system had been ironed out Snark low fuel consumption plus the miniaturisation of entered service with the United State's Air warhead technology. Force in 1958. The guidance sy,stem which plays such a big The United State's Navy's answer to Marador and part is the Terrain Contour Matching (Tercoml Mace was the SSNM8 Voughr Regulus. Regulus system. This sytem operates by comparing the was a subsonic cruise missile of tailless swept- measured terrain being flown over with a digital wing aircraft appearance powered by an Allison map of the area derived from intelligence gathering turbojet engine, boost launched from the deck of sources, should the missile have deviated from a surfaced submarine by twin rockets; its range course the control surfaces are activated to put was 500 miles. Guidance was by a radio command it back on its programmed track. Target and route system vyhose>unreliability and inaccuracy limited data are read into the system, the effectiveness of the weapon. prior to launch. Even with modern computer miniaturisation it is not possible to store mappings Finally in this 'first generation' of United State's of the entire route to a target. Terrain contour cruise missiles was Rockwell Hound Dog air-to- matching is therefore used at certain 'mapping ground. This was a supersonic cruise missile areas' en route to update an internal navigation powered by a Pratt and Whitney turbojet engine system. This combination of Tercom and in- to speeds of slightly over Mach 2 and a range ternal navigation is known as TAINS (Tercom- of some 600 miles. Hound Dog used an internal aided Internal Navigation Systeml. Accuracy using navigation system. This missile entered service in this system is claimed to be very high, achieving 1961 and survived well into the seventies, and Circular Error Probability (CEPlof only tens of feet. although manufacturer activity on Hound Dog has ceased the operational status of missiles in the As to the missiles themselves, two development United State's Air Force inventory is uncertain. programs are being run concurrently. The Boeing AGM86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile Despite the advent of Inter-Continental Ballistic (ALCM) and the General Dynamics BGM 109 Missile technology which has stifled any opera- Sea-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCMl. tional cruise missiles, a considerable amount of The two missiles have a significant number of development work was carried out during the features in common. 1960s and early 1970s on missiles which never entered service. With Tomahawk the original concept was to pro- vide a naval cruise missile capable of launch Now the forerunner of a resurgent generation of from a submerged submarine or surface ship, with cruise missiles is undergoing Operational test and air and land-launches as further possibilities. The Evaluation and can be considered as virtually resultant missile has two variants, a 'land-attack' accepted into service with the United State's strategic version and an 'anti-ship' tactical version. Navy. This is MacDonnell Douglas' Both versions are suitable for launch from standard anti-ship missile. Described as a high-subsonic torpedo tubes and indeed the missile resembles a anti-ship tactical cruise missile Harpoon is designed flying torpedo with small 'pop-out' wings, air- for launch from surface ships, maritime patrol and intake and Zeppelin-like tail surfaces. Both versions attack aircraft, and attack submarines. Guidance share a common cruise engine, a Williams Re- of the missile will be by pre-programmed altitude search turbofan, and have the same cruise speed, reference plus radar altimeter during the cruise some 880 km/h, flight wl!1 be at low level for with active homing radar being used for the termi- optimum penetration capability. The Ami-Ship nal phase, with propulsion by a Teledyne CAE Tomahawk will have a probable range of some turbojet cruise engine the Harpoon's range is over 300 nm and will be fitted with a conventional 50 nautical miles. warhead, while the land attack version has a range target of 1 500 - 2000 nm and will have a So on to what has been attracting so much nuclear warhead option. The anti-ship version will

21 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 8, Nr 3, 1978. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

use many subsystems of Harpoon including the Thus while the prospects seem bright for America's guidance package. The land attack version will new weapon system there are some. utilize a TA/NS system with a possible means of cautionary points to be considered. Firstly, other improving accuracy being the United State's countries have not neglected cruise missiles, in- Navy-developed SMAC (Scene Matching Area deed the Soviet Union has deployed a variety Correlation) terminal homing system, which utilizes of cruise missiles ever since the very late 1950s photographic techniques to refine the final Tercom and has an estimated 5 000 odd in service pri- update and direct the missile to its target. marily with its naval forces. Then critics of the American reliance on cruise missiles point out some The air-launched cruise missile is very similar weakness in the system. The missiles must be in concept to Tomahawk although differing in pre-programmed and so once launched cannot be shape. It was designed to be launched from the re-directed to new targets, also they can avoid SRAM missile launcher now to be utilized with the only previously known fixed defensive sites. B-52 following the scrapping of the B-1. The Further due to their small size the missiles carry air-launched cruise missile has a fuselage of triangu- no electronic countermeasures and are also vulnera- lar cross-section against which and into which the ble to supersonic interceptor missiles because of wings, rudder, tailplane and air-intake fit when the their subsonic speeds. So all in all however missile is stowed on the launcher. The same promising the concept and encouraging the early Williams Research turbofan used on air-launched trials the missiles are still far from operational cruise missile is used on Tomahawk and a Tercom, and may suffer some inherent disadvantages. internal navigation system combination also serves to guide the air-launched cruise missile. The con- straint of compatibility with the SRAM launcher Air PiclOnai, vol 40, no 1, January 1978 1M Allard: resulted in a comparatively small missile with a Cruise Mlssilesl. subsequent range of some 1 300 km, however a 2. MtllliilY Review, vol 57, no 3, March 1977 (L.G. Lundqust: longer-range version (AGM-86BJ with extended A Field Artillery Cruise Missilel. 3. AVlallon and Marme, vol 3, no 29, September 1976, fuselage and larger win span is expected to have IALMC: Air-launched Cruise Mlssllel. about twice the range of the original air-launched 4. AVlalion Week and Space Technoiogv, vol 106, no 21, 23 May 1977 ICA Robinson, Jr Cruise Missile Halt cruise missile, but will need to be carried Considered). externally on the aircraft. 5. RT. Perry ledl: Jane's Weapon Svslems (London, 1978l.

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