Operational History
On December 21, 1959, General Thomas S. Power, the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC), formally accepted the first production Hound Dog missile. Just two months later in February, SAC test-launched its first unarmed Hound Dog at Eglin Air Force Base.
In July 1960, the Hound Dog reached initial operational capability with the first B-52 unit. The Hound Dog was used on airborne alert for the first time in January 1962. In 1962, SAC activated missile maintenance squadrons to provide maintenance for both the Hound Dog and the ADM-20 Quail decoy missile. Full operational capability was achieved in August 1963 when 29 B-52 bomber wings were operational with the Hound Dog.
In 1960, SAC developed procedures so that the B-52 could use the Hound Dog's J52 engine for additional thrust while the missile was located on the bomber's two pylons. This helped heavily-laden B-52s into the air. The Hound Dog could then be refueled from the B-52's wing fuel tanks.
One Hound Dog missile crashed near the town of Samson, Alabama, when it failed to self-destruct after a test launch from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. In 1962, a Hound Dog was accidentally dropped to the ground during an underwing systems check.
In May 1962, operation "Silk Hat" was conducted at Eglin Air Force Base. During this exercise, a Hound Dog test launch was conducted before an audience of national and international dignitaries headed by President John F. Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson.
On September 22, 1966, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara recommended retiring all of the remaining Hound Dog missiles, within a few years. The Hound Dogs would be retained pending the outcome of the Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) guidance system development program. Secretary McNamara's recommendation was not acted upon, and the Hound Dog remained in service
After thirteen years of service with the Air Force, the last Hound Dog missile was removed from alert deployment on June 30, 1975. The Hound Dog missiles were kept in dead storage for a number of years. The last Hound Dog was retired for scrapping on June 15, 1978, from the 42nd Bomb Wing at Loring Air Force Base, Maine.
No Hound Dog missile was ever used in combat, since it was strictly a weapon for nuclear warfare.
Read more about this topic: AGM-28 Hound Dog
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)