AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow

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

History

The requirement was for a low-cost air-launchable system to aid in the destruction of enemy air defense networks. The proposed unit would combines 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 manned aircraft up to 450 km to pre-programmed target zones and patrol there until enemy Radar sources were detected which would then be destroyed. 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 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) long and 5 ft 2 in (1.575 m) in span with a body diameter of 27 in (686 mm), flight and control surfaces deployed after launch. It massed around 431 lb (195 kg) including the 18 kg warhead. Power was provided by a Williams International F121 turbofan, producing 310 N (70 lbf) of thrust from the 0.9 m, 22 kg unit. Some sources state that production units would have used a 1,200 N 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 450 km. 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

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

External links

Pages with the same tags

Page Tags
AIM-9 Sidewinder guided-missiles
BGM-71 TOW guided-missiles weapons
Toropol R-3 (K-15) guided-missiles
Bisnovat R-40 guided-missiles
AGM-123 Skipper II guided-missiles
Anti Ship Missile guided-missiles
RBS-15 guided-missiles
As 34 Kormoran guided-missiles
Penguin Missile guided-missiles
List Of NATO Reporting Names For Air To Surface Missiles guided-missiles list
page 1 of 212next »
United States tri-service missile and drone designations post-1962
MGM-1RIM-2MIM-3AIM-4MGM-5RGM-6AIM-7RIM-8AIM-9CIM-10PGM-11AGM-12CGM-13/MGM-13MIM-14RGM-15CGM-16PGM-17MGM-18PGM-19ADM-20MGM-21AGM-22MIM-23RIM-24HGM-25AIM-26UGM-27AGM-28MGM-29LGM-30MGM-31MGM-32MQM-33AQM-34AQM-35MQM-36AQM-37AQM-38MQM-39MQM-40AQM-41MQM-42FIM-43UUM-44AGM-45MIM-46AIM-47AGM-48LIM-49RIM-50MGM-51MGM-52AGM-53AIM-54RIM-55PQM-56MQM-57MQM-58RGM-59AQM-60MQM-61AGM-62AGM-63AGM-64AGM-65RIM-66RIM-67AIM-68AGM-69LEM-70BGM-71MIM-72UGM-73BQM-74/MQM-74BGM-75AGM-76FGM-77AGM-78AGM-79AGM-80AQM-81AIM-82AGM-83AGM-84/RGM-84/UGM-84RIM-85AGM-86AGM-87AGM-88UGM-89BQM-90AQM-91FIM-92XQM-93YQM-94AIM-95UGM-96AIM-97YQM-98LIM-99LIM-100RIM-101PQM-102AQM-103MIM-104MQM-105BQM-106MQM-107BQM-108BGM-109BGM-110BQM-111AGM-112RIM-113AGM-114MIM-115RIM-116FQM-117LGM-118AGM-119AIM-120CQM-121AGM-122AGM-123AGM-124RUM-125/UUM-125BQM-126AQM-127AQM-128AGM-129AGM-130AGM-131AIM-132UGM-133MGM-134ASM-135AGM-136AGM-137CEM-138RUM-139MGM-140ADM-141AGM-142MQM-143ADM-144BQM-145MIM-146BQM-147FGM-148PQM-149PQM-150FQM-151AIM-152AGM-153AGM-154BQM-155RIM-156MGM-157AGM-158AGM-159ADM-160RIM-161RIM-162GQM-163MGM-164RGM-165MGM-166BQM-167MGM-168AGM-169MQM-170MQM-171FGM-172GQM-173RIM-174
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under GNU Free Documentation License.