Historical Essay © Andreas Parsch

Lockheed SENIOR PROM

SENIOR PROM was a U.S. Air Force program in the early 1980s for a stealthy cruise missile. Because the project is still highly classified, very little information is available, and even that is largely unconfirmed.

The external shape of the SENIOR PROM missile was reportedly similar to the HAVE BLUE stealth testbed. Therefore it can be assumed that the missile was powered by one or two turbojets. Recoverable prototypes of SENIOR PROM were launched from B-52H aircraft, but no production contract was awarded. One reported reason is that the missile was too bulky to be carried in the bomb bay of a B-1B. Given the relatively wide and flat shape of the HAVE BLUE design, this sounds plausible. Development of a stealthy cruise missile was subsequently continued by the AGM-129 ACM (Advanced Cruise Missile) and AGM-137 TSSAM (Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile) programs.

There is no public information on the SENIOR PROM's characteristics available.

[1] Curtiss Peebles: "Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret U.S. Aircraft Programs", Presidio, 1999