The first Air Force weapon to be eliminated by treaty. Called ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCMs), this version of the Navy's Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile was a mobile ground-to-ground missile that was developed to modernize NATO's intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF). Its characteristics included a small radar cross section, low-altitude flight profile, and all-weather capabilities. A total of 464 missiles was planned, but deliveries were halted at 19 flights—a flight consisting of four transporter-erector-launchers (TELs), each carrying four missiles (along with four spares), and two launch control centers—with the signing of the INF Treaty with the Soviet Union. Five bases were eventually operational with GLCMs—RAF Greenham Common, UK (established 1983), Comiso AB, Italy, and Florennes AB, Belgium (both 1984), Wueschheim AB, West Germany (1986), and RAF Molesworth, UK (1987). Under the INF Treaty, the first missiles were removed from Europe in September 1988, and the last were removed prior to May 31, 1991. The missiles (sans warheads), TELs, and control centers were flown to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where the missile engines and guidance sets were removed (and actually reused in Navy Tomahawks). The missile bodies were cut into pieces according to strict protocols and with on-site verification by the Soviet officials. The other US missile to be destroyed under the INF Treaty was the Army's Pershing II.
| Contractors: |
Convair Division of General Dynamics Corp. and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co. |
| Locations Built: |
San Diego, Calif., and St. Louis, Mo. |
| Number Built: (USAF) |
380 (380) |
| First Launch: |
1980 |
| First Flight Model: |
BGM-109G |
| First Flight Location: |
Unconfirmed but most likely the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Calif. |
| Models/Variants: |
BGM-109G |
| Powerplant: |
One Williams International/Teledyne CAE F107-WR-400 nonafterburning turbofan engine of 600 lb thrust. One Atlantic Research solid fuel booster of 7,000 lb thrust for launch only |
| Diameter: |
1 ft 9 in. |
| Length: |
20 ft 6 in (with booster) |
| Weight: |
3,250 lb (with booster) |
| Finspan: |
8 ft 7 in. |
| Armament: |
One W-84 nuclear warhead with a yield between 10 and 50 kilotons |
| Cost: |
Approx $1 million each |
| Max. Speed: |
Approx 500 mph |
| Range: |
1,500 mi. |
| Ceiling: |
Missile flew at low altitudes with terrain contour matching and inertial guidance |
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