The AQM-60 Kingfisher, originally designated XQ-5, was a

target drone A target drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle, generally remote controlled, usually used in the training of anti-aircraft crews. One of the earliest drones was the British DH.82 Queen Bee, a variant of the Tiger Moth trainer aircraft operationa ...

version of the USAF's X-7

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...

test aircraft built by the

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...

. The aircraft was designed by Kelly Johnson, who later created the

Lockheed A-12 The Lockheed A-12 is a high-altitude, Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft built for the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by Lockheed's Skunk Works, based on the designs of Clarence "Kelly" Johnson. The aircraft was designate ...

and its relatives, such as the

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force ...

and

Lockheed YF-12 The Lockheed YF-12 was an American Mach 3+ capable, high-altitude interceptor prototype, developed and manufactured by American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a potenti ...

. The X-7's development began in 1946 after a request from the USAF for a Mach 3

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

for test purposes. This craft evolved into the Kingfisher, which was later used to test anti-missile systems such as the MIM-3 Nike Ajax, SAM-A-25/MIM-14 Nike Hercules, and IM-99/CIM-10. The Kingfisher was capable of evading the vast majority of weapons systems it was used to test, despite the systems being designed to destroy

hypersonic missile Hypersonic weapons are weapons travelling at hypersonic speed – at between 5 and 25 times the speed of sound, about . Below such speeds, weapons would be characterized as subsonic or supersonic, while above such speeds, the molecules of t ...

s in flight. This created much embarrassment at the USAF and considerable political fallout. This led to the discontinuation of production in 1959 and the cancellation of the project in the mid-1960s. The engine developed for the AQM-60 was later modified for use on the long range nuclear armed

CIM-10 Bomarc The Boeing CIM-10 BOMARC (Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center) (IM-99 Weapon System prior to September 1962) was a supersonic ramjet powered long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) used during the Cold War for the air defense of North ...

, which was a nationwide defense against nuclear bombers during the 1960s and early 1970s. An endurance variant of the same engine was produced for use in the

Lockheed D-21 The Lockheed D-21 is an American supersonic reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of an M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. The drone had maximum speed in excess of at a ...

, which was launched from the back of a

mothership or from under the wing of a

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

nuclear bomber.Goodall and Goodall 2002, p. 106.

Specifications

References

External links

* Directory of US Military Rockets and Missiles * http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-60.html {{USAF system codes AQM-060 1950s United States special-purpose aircraft Target drones of the United States Single-engined jet aircraft Ramjet-powered aircraft Aircraft with auxiliary rocket engines Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1951 Cruciform tail aircraft