AGM-137 TSSAM
The Northrop AGM-137 TSSAM was a standoff cruise missile developed for the U.S. military.Overview
The United States Air Force began developing the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile in 1986; the intent was to produce a family of stealthy missiles for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and United States Army which would be capable of long range, autonomous guidance, automatic target recognition, and sufficient accuracy and warhead power to be capable of destroying well-protected structures either on land or at sea.
All versions of the missile would use inertial navigation aided by Global Positioning System. The Navy and one Air Force version were to use an imaging infrared homing terminal sensor to recognize the target and terminal homing, and would be fitted with a unitary warhead. A second version Army missile would be launched by two booster rockets and carry the Combined Effects Bomblet submunition against land targets.
It was planned to carry the missile on the B-52H, F-16C/D, B-1, B-2, A-6E, and F/A-18C/D; the Army version was to be launched from the MLRS vehicle.
The project suffered from budgetary problems, some related to the distribution of the budget between the three services. This resulted in funding shortfalls and delays. The missiles also suffered from technical development issues, pushing the unit cost from the original 1986 figure of $728,000 per missile to $2,062,000 in 1994. The project was canceled as a result. Technology developed for the TSSAM was used in the JASSM program.
