Английская Википедия:AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow

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Шаблон:More citations needed Шаблон:Infobox weapon

The AGM-136A Tacit Rainbow was a United States military anti-radiation missile program run from 1982 to 1991.

The requirement was for a low-cost air-launchable system to aid in the destruction of enemy air defense networks. The proposed unit would combine elements of cruise missiles and UAVs, it would be launched in large numbers by heavy bombers, fighters, or possibly mass ground launch systems.

The missiles would fly in advance of crewed aircraft up to Шаблон:Convert to pre-programmed target zones and patrol there until enemy radar sources were detected which would then be destroyed, acting as a loitering munition. This extended patrol time on target ("loiter time") was the key feature of the new system, a persistent anti-radiation missile (PARM) as opposed to a HARM.

The project was started by the DoD in 1982, but moved to the control of the USAF Aeronautical Systems Division in 1984 as a joint Navy/Air Force project. The majority of the system was designed and developed by Northrop with Texas Instruments providing the seek head and Boeing providing a system that allowed it to be launched from B-52 bombers. The first test air-launch was on July 30, 1984.

The unit was Шаблон:Convert long and Шаблон:Convert in span with a body diameter of Шаблон:Convert, flight and control surfaces deployed after launch. It massed around Шаблон:Convert including the Шаблон:Convert warhead. Power was provided by a Williams F121 turbofan, producing Шаблон:Convert of thrust from the 0.9 m, 22 kg unit.

Some sources state that production units would have used a Шаблон:Convert variant of the Williams International WR-24. Achieved speed and range are uncertain, low subsonic speed is probable and all sources indicate a range much lower than the hoped-for Шаблон:Convert. Each unit was to cost around $200,000, up to thirty would have been loaded in a single B-52.

The Naval Research Advisory Committee reported in 1989 that the project was not progressing well. In 1991 a DoD audit found numerous management problems. The program was canceled in 1991 (FY 1992), without any production units and at a total cost of around $4 billion. It was only the second post-Vietnam military project to be canceled after completing testing but before production.

Survivors

Файл:Frontiers of Flight Museum December 2015 075 (Northrop AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow missile).jpg
An AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum

Below is a list of museums which have a Tacit Rainbow in their collection:

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

Шаблон:US missiles