AGM-64 Hornet

TheAGM-64 Hornetwas amissileproduced by the United States.

In the early 1960s,North American Aviationproduced a missile design for theU.S. Air Force'sAnti-TankGuidedAircraftRocket (ATGAR) project. The ATGAR was ultimately not produced, but the Air Force was impressed enough that in 1963 it awarded North American a development contract for the ZAGM-64A Hornet missile. The Hornet was planned as abattlefieldmissile for use against armored vehicles which would mount an electro-optical guidance system.

The first test firing of the prototype XAGM-64A occurred in December 1964. It was powered by a fast-burning solidrocket motor.Theelectro-optical guidancesystem provided a liveTVimage to thecockpit;the operator would lock the missile onto the desired target before launch and the missile would home in on it automatically.

The Air Force ultimately stopped development of the AGM-64, judging that the similarAGM-65 Maverickhad more potential. Although not produced as a weapon, the Hornet became atestbedfor various guidance systems including different varieties ofelectro-opticalsystems and a magneticguidance system.The program was terminated in 1968.

The XAGM-64 was briefly revived in the early 1970s, again to test missile guidance systems. The propulsion system of the missile was upgraded, increasing the range to as much as 2.5 miles (4 km). In this configuration the Hornet testedlaser guidancepackages, the electro-optical system designed for the GBU-8/B and GBU-9/B Homing Bomb System (HOBOS) glide bombs, and the terminal guidance system for theAGM-114 Hellfireanti-tank missile.

Operators

• TheUnited States Air Forcecanceled the AGM-64 before service entry.

References

• Rockwell AGM-64 Hornet
• AGM-64 Hornet
• Bill Gunston: "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rockets and Missiles", Salamander Books Ltd, 1979