AGM-137 TSSAM

On behalf of the U.S. Army, the company Northrop started development of the AGM -137 TSSAM, a stealth cruise missile.

The abbreviation stands for TSSAM Standoff Attack Missile Tri-Service. Thus the name suggests, that the TSSAM for the three major branches of the armed forces, Air Force, Navy and Army, was intended. In the Air Force and Navy, they should be named AGM- 137A and the Army the name MGM - 137B. In 1986 the development of the AGM began at Northrop. There you could on the experiences that were collected during TACIT BLUE program, fall back. When driving a turbofan the company Williams was elected, the TSSAM enabled a range of around 185 km away. It should be different warheads are used. For the Air Force and Navy, a 1000 pound (450 kg) was heavier warhead provided alternatively could the cruise missiles with submunition (BLU -97 / B CEB) are equipped. For the MGM -137, however, only those with submunition BAT (Brilliant Anti-Tank ) equipped variant was provided.

But there have been technical problems during the construction of the first prototype, which could not be resolved even up to the flight tests. Went to 1986 assuming that you would have to pay 728,000 U.S. dollars per TSSAM, it was already in 1994, 2.062 million U.S. dollars. This high cost and the still existing technical problems caused the U.S. Army already in 1993 to get out of the program. Instead, they developed the MGM -140 ATACMS, which is also equipped with the BAT submunition. In early December 1994, the program was finally terminated by the Department of Defense. After Air Force and Navy began developing the AGM -158 JASSM.

Already in 1991 it was announced that the U.S. forces were working on a missile called AGM -137. Further details were not revealed due to confidentiality.