Air-launched ballistic missile

However, by the 1990s surface-to-air missile technology had innovated to the point of allowing the interception of such weapons (especially in their terminal phase) from road mobile systems, albeit at a lower probability of kill(PoK).

After testing several experimental designs as part of the WS-199 efforts in the 1950s, the U.S. Air Force began development of the GAM-87 Skybolt missile with range on the order of 1,150 miles (1,850 km).

The US carried out several experiments using existing missile designs dropped from cargo aircraft, but ultimately abandoned this line of research entirely.

In 1962, with technical difficulties and costs mounting, the program was cancelled, with the United States and the UK concentrating on the UGM-27 Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile instead.

Operational deployment was discarded due to engineering and security difficulties, though the capability was used as a negotiating point in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

[7] In March 2018, Defense Intelligence Agency chief Robert Ashley confirmed that China is developing two new air-launched ballistic missiles, one of which can carry a nuclear warhead.

In October 2020, a H-6 bomber was spotted at Neixiang Air Base landing with what appeared to be an air-launched ballistic missile similar to the DF-17.