The Northrop AGM-137 TSSAM (Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile) was a
standoff cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
developed for the three branches of the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
, hence "tri-service". Missile development began in 1986 but revelation of cost-overruns in 1991 prompted the Army to pull out of the project and an investigation of the procurement process by the
General Accounting Office
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is a legislative branch government agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal govern ...
(GAO, now referred to as the Government Accountability Office). The project was eventually cancelled in 1994 pursuant to a GAO recommendation and the loss of support of the United States Army.
Development
The
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
began developing the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM) in 1986;
the intent was to produce a family of
stealthy missiles for the U.S. Air Force,
Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
and
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
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 Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS). The Navy and one Air Force version were to use an
imaging infrared homing
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...
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 (CEB)
submunition against land targets.
It was planned to carry the missile on the
B-52H,
F-16C/D,
B-1,
B-2
The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying w ...
,
A-6E, and
F/A-18C/D; the Army version was to be launched from the MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) vehicle.
In 1991 the previously
black budget figures for TSSAM were revealed, showing a roughly 6 billion dollar cost overrun over the original contract price. This prompted a GAO investigation into the procurement process which resulted in the recommendation that the project be cancelled.
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 which was intended to be used by all three services (hence, Tri-service), lost Army support in 1993 and was canceled as a result.
Technology developed for the TSSAM was used in the
JASSM program.
See also
*
List of missiles
Below is a list of missiles, sorted alphabetically into large categories and subcategories by name and purpose.
Other missile lists
Types of missiles:
* Conventional guided missiles
** Air-to-air missile
** Air-to-surface missile
** Anti-radiat ...
References
External links
Northrop AGM/MGM-137 TSSAM - Designation Systems
{{US missiles
AGM-137
Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States