The AGM-28 Hound Dog, first designated B-77 and later redesignated GAM-77 before becoming the AGM-28, was a supersonic air-launched missile designed by North American Aviation to destroy heavily defended ground targets. Specially modified B-52s could carry two, one beneath each wing, and the navigation systems of the B-52 and the GAM-77 were integrated so the B-52 navigator could cross-check data with the missile’s automated system. Named after Elvis Presley’s hit song, the missile grew from an Air Force requirement issued on March 15, 1956, for an air-to-surface missile for the B-52 bomber. North American won the contract on Oct. 16, 1958, and delivered the first production model to Gen. Thomas S. Power, Commander in Chief of the Strategic Air Command, on Dec. 21, 1959, during a ceremony at North American’s Downey, Ca. plant. The first launch from a B-52 took place on April 23, 1959, and by the end of 1959 the Air Force had approved 29 B-52 squadrons to be equipped with Hound Dog missiles. Although no AGM-28s were ever used in combat, a typical mission launched one at an altitude of 45,000 feet; it then climbed to over 56,000 feet, cruised to the target area, and dived to the target. This stand-off capability allowed launches hundreds of miles away, reducing risk to the launch aircraft. In 1960 the Strategic Air Command developed a way to use the missiles’ jet engines to provide extra power for the B-52 in flight or during takeoff, and the missiles could then be refueled in flight from the bomber’s fuel tanks. The improved AGM-28B, with better guidance and greater range, first flew in May 1961. Almost 700 AGM-28s were built before production ended in 1963; the last were removed from service in 1975 and scrapped three years later.