A cruise missile is any unmanned aerial propulsion system capable of carrying an explosive warhead over long distances and hitting a target with high precision.
The first practical efforts on record began when Peter C. Hewitt, inventor of the mercury vapor lamp, approached Elmer A. Sperry of Sperry Gyroscope Company in April 1915 with the idea of a "flying bomb." Together they developed and tested an automatic control system on both a Curtiss flying boat and a twin-engine aircraft.
Eight days later (after America's declaration of war on 6 April 1917), the Naval Consulting Board recommended that $50,000 be allotted to Sperry's "flying bomb" project.
In 1920 Navy contracted with the Perry Gyroscope Company to design and construct four gyro units for installation in E-1 and Messenger’s aircraft. Early US Navy efforts after the war concentrated on radio0cntrolled systems, but funding, in short supply during the 1920s, was eventually cut off by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) initiated ten jet-engine powered guided missile projects during World War II, numbered sequentially in order of approval by the War Department as JB-1 through JB-10. Only the JB-2, precisely copied from the German V-1, reached production.
JB-2 was an America’s first operationally successful, mass-produced guided missile; a direct copy of the German V-1.
The original strategic cruise missile was a submarine launched weapon (subsequently designated BGM 109 Tomahawk) but in 1976 it was decided to redirect it toward the theatre role. In 1977, development of a ground launched variant of this weapon was initiated, also for the theatre role. The popular acronyms for these weapons are SLCM and GLCM, for sea-and ground-launched cruise missile respectively.
The Tomahawk cruise missile was introduced into the US arsenal in 1983 and modernized versions continue to be used to the present day.
History of cruise missile in United States
