Retired Lt. Gen. Charles H. Terhune Jr., one of the original 10 men to receive the newly created Space and Missile Pioneer Award, died at the age of 90 at his home in La Canada, Calif., on Aug. 30, following a long illness. Terhune entered the Army Air Corps in 1938, earning his pilot wings in 1939. He worked in aeronautical research and development and migrated to guided missiles, becoming one of the first five officers to work on USAF’s ballistic missile program. He was key to the Thor, Titan, and Minuteman programs. He served in various command positions, including heading Electronic Systems Division, and led the Air Force’s Project Forecast. In 1971, Terhune became deputy director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working the space arena from the civilian side until he retired in 1983. (Read his official USAF biography and another from Air Force Space Command.)
RTX’s Raytheon unit was able to “significantly” extend the range of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile using mostly software changes in experimental tests last year, expanding the reach and lethality of the standard U.S. dogfighting weapon, company officials said Sept. 15.
