The AGM-86 is a low-level, penetrating nuclear strike weapon for use against strategic surface targets. ALCM’s small radar signature and low-level flight capability enhance the missile’s effectiveness.
The nuclear AGM-86B was the first production version with a total of 1,715 delivered through 1986. USAF cut the inventory to approximately 528 ALCM of which roughly 200 are considered “deployed.”
Some ALCMs were modified for conventional use with INS/GPS guidance and a blast fragmentation warhead, redelivered in 1987 as the AGM-86C CALCM, and operationally employed for the first time in Desert Storm, with wide use in subsequent operations. CALCM was capable of adverse weather, day/night, air-to-surface, accurate, standoff strike at ranges greater than 500 miles. The AGM-86D was CALCM’s Block II penetrator version with AUP- 3(M) warhead used for standoff strikes on hardened, deeply buried targets in Afghanistan.
CALCM was retired in early 2019, and AGM-186C/D were sent to Barksdale, where they completed demilitarization and disposal in 2022.
ALCM is undergoing SLEP/component remanufacture to stretch its service life to 2030, pending replacement by the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) missile. USAF awarded technology-maturation and risk-reduction contracts for the LRSO in 2017, resulting in the selection and continued development of Raytheon’s AGM-181 Long-Range Standoff Weapon. Plans call for fielding the nuclear AGM-181 by the late 2020s, possibly followed by a conventional derivative thereafter.
AGM-86 Air-Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) Technical Data
Contractor: Boeing.
First Flight: June 1979 (full-scale development).
Delivered: 1981-1986.
IOC: December 1982 (B); January 1991 (C); November 2001 (D).
Production: 1,715.
Inventory: Approx. 528 (B).
Operator: AFGSC.
Unit Location: Minot AFB, N.D.
Active Variant: • AGM-86B. Nuclear ALCM variant.
Dimensions: Span 12 ft, length 20.8 ft, body diameter 2 ft.
Weight: 3,150 lb.
Power Plant: Williams/Teledyne CAE F107-WR-10 turbofan, 600 lb thrust.
Performance: Speed 550 mph, range 1,500+ miles (B).
Guidance: Inertial plus Terrain Contour Matching (B).
Warhead: W80-1 nuclear warhead (B).
Estimated Yield: W80-1 warhead: 5-150 kilotons (preselectable).
Integration: B-52H.