Missile, Test, Air-to-Ground, AGM-76A Falcon

Cylindrical with long delta fins in cruciform pattern extending throughout two thirds of the length of the missile; long, tapering nose to point; air tufts around its body and fins and excluding the tip of the missile; tufts, each about 3.5 inches long, apparently made from cut pieces of parachute cord, and attached to missile body with a type of epoxy putty; some pieces of this cord are red, others white; white pieces attached to blue areas of body for better visibility and red pieces to white or off-white sections; grid pattern marked out in light pencil all over body, consisting of 3 x 5 inches squares, with upper left hand corner or almost each square, with tuft or cord attached; ends of each of the cords, singed, to prevent fraying; missile nose, and rear body, white; forward section, before nose, off-white; overall, with alternating black and orange bands along its length and at three different places around its circumference; nose tip, made partly of wood; back of missile, with flat wooden disc, covering its empty interior. With stenciled markings in black X50X-15 on each fin above the first circumferential band. Also has stenciled markings, "No Lift" at various points, and "AGM 76A" on both sides, at front.

This is the AGM-76A, an air-to-ground version of the Falcon missile that usually appeared as an air-to-air weapon. The parachute cord strands attached to it were to see how the air flowed over the missile during aerodynamic tests. The short-lived AGM-76 concept was developed by Hughes Aircraft Company in 1966.

The AIM-47 air-to-air missile was to be converted into a fast, long-range missile called AGM-76 to destroy enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites in North Vietnam before the launch aircraft came into the lethal zone of the SAM missile. But after the AGM-76 concept was approved by the Air Force, the U.S. Navy promoted an air-to-ground version of its existing Standard missile developed for this purpose, and Standard won.

This object was donated to the Smithsonian in 1970 by Hughes Aircraft.