OPERATION BLUENOSE AGM-28 HOUND DOG MISSILE B-52 LAUNCH 1960 34412

Support Our Channel :   / periscopefilm  

Created by the Strategic Air Command, this film documents Operation Blue Nose in April of 1960. On April 20, a 4135th Strategic Wing B-52G crew at Eglin AFB, Fla., launched a Hound Dog missile at the end of a 20-hour, 30-minute flight to the North Pole and back. This test verified the ability of the B-52 and missile to operate in temperatures as low as 75 degrees below zero. The North American Aviation Corporation AGM-28 Hound Dog was a supersonic, jet propelled, air-launched cruise missile. The Hound Dog missile was first given the designation B-77, then redesignated GAM-77, and finally as AGM-28. The Hound Dog was conceived as a temporary stand-off weapon for the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, to be used until the GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile was available. Instead, the Skybolt missile was canceled within a few years, and the Hound Dog was deployed for 15 years until the missile was replaced by newer weapons, including the SRAM missile and the AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile.

The North American Aviation AGM-28 Hound Dog was a supersonic, turbojet-propelled, air-launched cruise missile. The Hound Dog missile was first given the designation B-77, then redesignated GAM-77, and finally as AGM-28. The Hound Dog was conceived as a temporary standoff missile for the B-52 Stratofortress bomber, to be used until the GAM-87 Skybolt air-launched ballistic missile was available. Instead, the Skybolt missile was cancelled within a few years, and the Hound Dog was deployed for 15 years until the missile was replaced by newer weapons, including the SRAM missile and the AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile.

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 fly away from their airbases faster, before enemy nuclear weapons obliterated them. 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.

Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. We collect, scan and preserve 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have films you'd like to have scanned or donate to Periscope Film, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the link below.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com