Air-To-Surface Missiles of the United States

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 25. Chapters: AGM-114 Hellfire, AGM-65 Maverick, AGM-88 HARM, BGM-71 TOW, AGM-158 JASSM, AGM-129 ACM, ASM-A-1 Tarzon, AGM-86 ALCM, Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, Bat, GT-1, AGM-12 Bullpup, AGM-142 Have Nap, ASALM, JB-4, AGM-169 Joint Common Missile, Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, Hopi, AGM-130, ASM-N-8 Corvus, Small Tactical Munition, Direct Attack Guided Rocket, Standoff Land Attack Missile, AGM-53 Condor, AGM-83 Bulldog, Small Smart Weapon, Low-Cost Guided Imaging Rocket, Gorgon, Precision Attack Air-to-Surface Missile, AGM-87 Focus, AGM-63, AGM-80 Viper. Excerpt: The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile, developed primarily for anti-armor use. It can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. It has multi-mission, and multi-target precision-strike capability. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100 lb-class air-to-ground precision weapon for the armed forces of the United States and many other nations. The HELLFIRE name comes from its original intention as a helicopter-launched fire-and-forget weapon (HELicopter Launched FIRE-and-forget). The AGM-114 Hellfire is a combat-proven tactical missile system. The missile has been in combat use since the mid-1980s. The Hellfire today is a comprehensive weapon system, one that can be deployed from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, naval assets, and land-based systems against a variety of targets. The development of the Hellfire Missile System began in 1974 with the U.S. Army requirement for a "tank-buster", launched from helicopters to defeat armored fighting vehicles. Production of the AGM-114A started in 1982. The Development Test and Evaluation (DT&E) launch phase of the AGM-114B took place in 1984. The DT&E on the AGM-114K was completed in Fiscal Year (FY)93 and FY94. AGM-114M did not require a DT&E because it is the same as the AGM-114K except for the warhead. Most variants are laser guided with one, AGM-114L, being radar guided. The Hellfire II, developed in the early 1990s is a modular missile system with several variants for maximum battlefield flexibility. Hellfire II's semi-active laser variants¿AGM-114K high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT), AGM-114KII with external blast frag sleeve, AGM-114M (blast fragmentation), and AGM-114N metal augmented charge (MAC)¿achieve pinpoint accuracy by homing in on a reflected laser beam aimed at the target from the launching platform. Predator and Reaper UCAVs carry the Hellfire II, but the most common platform is the AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship, which can carry up to 16 of the missiles at once. The AGM-114L, or Longb