On April 13, 1973, the Department of Defense’s Director of Research and Engineering declared the Air Force’s plans for the ZAGM-86A subsonic cruise aircraft decoy were insufficient. The program was canceled in June 1973, then redirected in July 1973 as the starting point for the air-launched cruise missile program. Boeing developed the AGM-86A to fit in the B-52 bomb bay. In 1977, with DOD direction for a joint Air Force-Navy cruise missile, the longer-range AGM-86B ALCM was developed and fielded in 1981. (Courtesy photo)