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American decoy cruise missile

The McDonnell ADM 20 Quail was a subsonic, jet powered, air launched decoy cruise missile built by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. The Quail was designed to be launched by the Boeing B 52 Stratofortress strategic bomber and its original United States Air Force designation was GAM 72 (GAM standing for Guided Aircraft Missile). Quail contained electronics and radar reflectors intended to make it indistinguishable from a B 52 approaching at low altitude. This would force Soviet defenses to divide their missiles and interceptors between multiple targets, reducing the chance that a bomber would be targeted. Design of an improved version of Quail began in January 1968, with the system being termed the Subsonic Cruise Aircraft Decoy. This program incorporated several significant changes to the starting design before the AGM 86 ALCM was created.

In 1955 the USAF started a major effort to construct decoy missiles. The goal of this effort was to improve the ability of strategic bombers to penetrate air defense systems. The projects initiated under this effort included the MX 2223, which produced the XSM 73 Goose, a long range ground launched jet powered, decoy cruise missile; and MX 2224, which produced the XGAM 71 Buck Duck, an air launched rocket powered decoy missile to equip the Convair B 36. The USAF was at the same time developing the XQ 4 as a supersonic target drone to support the Bomarc Missile Program. A requirement was established by the USAF Power Plant Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base to support follow on production of the XQ 4. This requirement called for a small jet engine in the 2,000 lbf (8.9 kN) thrust class with a high thrust to weight ratio of 10:1. On November 28, 1954 General Electric was awarded a USAF development contract to construct the XJ 85 GE 1. The USAF designated the XJ85 project MX 2273. During April 1955, the USAF began a program to develop a short range air launched decoy missile to simulate the radar cross section of a bomber. On January 18, 1956, the USAF released General Operational Requirement (GOR) 139.

Although originally planned for deployment with the B 47 and the B 52, the GAM 72A was only deployed with the B 52. The first production GAM 72A was delivered to the 4135th Strategic Wing, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, on September 13, 1960. Initial operational capability was reached on February 1, 1961, when the first squadron of the 4135th Strategic Wing was equipped with the GAM 72A. On January 1, 1962 B 52 aircraft carried the GAM 72A decoy on airborne alert for the first time. Full operational capability was reached when the GAM 72A was deployed with the fourteenth and final B 52 squadron on April 15, 1962. The operational version of the GAM 72 carried internal radar reflectors facing forward and to each side of the aircraft. Up to 100 lb (45 kg) of payload could be accommodated internally by the GAM 72. This internal space could be used to house a radar repeater or a chaff dispenser. An infrared burner in the tail could produce intense heat to simulate the heat signature of a bomber. The GAM 72 was not armed. Eight GAM 72A decoys could be accommodated in the B 52's weapons bay but the normal decoy load was two. Ground radar continued to improve, and the effectiveness of the GAM 72B, redesignated in 1963 as the ADM 20C, decreased over time. The AGM 69 Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM) allowed bombers to attack air defense systems from a distance. By 1971, the USAF no longer considered the ADM 20C a credible decoy. The commander of the Strategic Air Command wrote the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force "that the Quail was only slightly better than nothing." The last ADM 20C operational test was flown at Eglin Air Force Base on July 13, 1972. On June 30, 1978, the last ADM 20C came off alert status. The last ADM 20C was removed from the United States Air Force inventory on December 15, 1978.

ADM 20B S/N 60–700 located in the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, United States. ADM 20 S/N 61 347 located in the Eighth Air Force Museum, Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana, United States. ADM 20 S/N 60 593 located in the Eighth Air Force Museum, Barksdale Air Force Base. ADM 20 located in the Aerospace Museum of California, former McClellan Air Force Base, Sacramento, California, United States. ADM 20 S/N 59 2249 located at the Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, United States. ADM 20 located at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Ashland, Nebraska, United States. ADM 20 S/N 60 505 located at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum, Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. ADM 20 S/N 59 2245 located in the Armed Forces and Aerospace Museum, Spokane, Washington, United States. ADM 20C S/N 61 633 located in the Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah, United States. ADM 20C located in the Historic Aviation Memorial Museum, Tyler, Texas, United States. ADM 20C S/N 61 414 located at the K. I. Sawyer Heritage Air Museum in Gwinn, Michigan, United States. ADM 20C located at the Pima Air & Space Museum adjacent to Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona, United States. ADM 20C S/N 60 374 located in the Oakland Aviation Museum, Oakland, California, United States. ADM 20C S/N 60 755 located in the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama, United States. ADM 20C S/N 61 455 located in the Lone Star Flight Museum, Galveston, Texas, United States. ADM 20 S/N 64 2573 located in the Museum of Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia, United States.