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TheAIM-26 Falcon was a larger, more powerful version of theAIM-4 Falconair-to-air missile built byHughes. It is the only guided American air-to-air missile with anuclear warhead to be produced; the unguidedAIR-2 Genie rocket was also nuclear-armed.
Starting in 1956Hughes Electronics began the development of an enlarged version of theGAR-1D Falcon that would carry anuclear warhead. It was intended to provide a sure kill in attacks onSoviet heavybomber aircraft, at a time when guided missiles were not accurate enough to produce high-probability kills with small conventional warheads. The original development was forsemi-active radar homing andheat-seeking versions based on the conventional GAR-1/GAR-2 weapons, under the designationsGAR-5 andGAR-6, respectively. The original program was cancelled.
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The program was revived in 1959, now under the nameGAR-11. It entered service in 1961, carried byAir Defense CommandF-102 Delta Dagger interceptors.[1] It used a radarproximity fuze andsemi-active radar homing. The GAR-11 used a sub-kiloton (250 ton) yieldW54 warhead shared with the"Davy Crockett" M388 recoilless rifle projectile,[2] rather than the largerW25 warhead of theAIR-2 Genie.[3]
Out of concern for the problems inherent in using nuclear weapons over friendly territory, a conventional version, theGAR-11A, was developed, using a 40 lb (18 kg) explosive warhead.
As part of a wider Army/Navy/Air Force renaming project, in 1963 the weapon was redesignatedAIM-26. The nuclear version became theAIM-26A, the conventional model theAIM-26B. From 1970 to 1972 the nuclear warheads of the AIM-26A weapons were rebuilt for the nuclear version of theAGM-62 Walleye TV guided bomb.
The AIM-26 saw little widespread use in American service, retiring in 1972. The conventional AIM-26B was exported to Switzerland as theHM-55, where it was used on SwissMirage IIIS fighters. The AIM-26B was produced underlicense (and modified) in Sweden as theRb 27, armingSaab Draken J-35F and 35J fighters. It was retired in 1998. When Finland bought Drakens, the license-manufactured Swedish Falcons were included.
Below is an incomplete list of museums which have an AIM-26 in their collection:
