The Boeing CQM-121 Pave Tiger is an

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

developed by

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

for use by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. Intended for the

Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD ), also known in the United States as " Wild Weasel" and (initially) "Iron Hand" operations, are military actions to suppress enemy surface-based air defenses, including surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), an ...

(SEAD) role, the drone reached the flight-test stage before cancellation.

Design and development

The CQM-121 program began in 1983, with Boeing being awarded a contract for the development of a small

drone aircraft An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human Aircraft pilot, pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter H ...

that was intended for the suppression of enemy

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

s.USAF to accelerate drone
. ''Flight International''. July 16, 1983. p.123. The resulting YCQM-121A, given the code name "Pave Tiger", was a tailless aircraft powered by a

two-stroke engine A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a f ...

. The drones were to be fitted in 15-cell containers with wings folded; the sides of the container would open to allow for launch on a rail using a solid-fuel rocket booster. The aircraft would then follow a pre-programmed route, and could either use

electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to countermeasure, trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny ...

to suppress air defense systems, or use a small

warhead A warhead is the section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket (weapon), rocket, torpedo, or bomb. Classification Types of warheads include: *E ...

to directly destroy them.Parsch, Andreas.
Boeing CQM-/CGM-121 Pave Tiger/Seek Spinner
. ''Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles''. Designation-Systems. 2002. Accessed 2014-04-08.

Operational history

Flight testing of the 13 YCQM-121A aircraft began in 1983, however the following year the project was terminated. The aircraft was resurrected in 1987, however, as an alternative to the

AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow The AGM-136A ''Tacit Rainbow'' was a United States military anti-radiation missile program run from 1982 to 1991. The requirement was for a low-cost air-launchable system to aid in the SEAD, destruction of enemy air defense networks. The proposed ...

anti-radar missile; the anti-radar version, designated YCGM-121B and codenamed "Seek Spinner", first flew in 1988.Boeing flies Seek Spinner
. ''Flight International''. December 3, 1988. p.13. Accessed 2014-04-08. It was equipped with a warhead for the destruction of enemy radars, and could loiter while awaiting detection of an enemy radar set. The program was terminated in 1989.Boeing YCGM-121B Seek Spinner
". National Museum of the United States Air Force. October 11, 2007. Accessed 2014-04-08. Also in 1987, the U.S. Air Force ordered an electronic countermeasure version of the aircraft, given the designation YCEM-138A Pave Cricket. Equipped with an AN/ALQ-176 jammer, the program was also cancelled in 1989.Parsch, Andreas.
Boeing CEM-138 Pave Cricket
. ''Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles''. Designation-Systems. 2002. Accessed 2014-04-08.

Variants

;YCQM-121A Pave Tiger :Original radar jamming variant; 13 built. ;YCGM-121B Seek Spinner :Loitering anti-radar missile variant. ;YCEM-138A Pave Cricket :Electronic countermeasures version of YCGM-121B.

Specifications (YCQM-121A)

References

{{US missiles CQM-121 1980s United States special-purpose aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Low-wing aircraft Canard aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of the United States Aircraft first flown in 1983