AGM-88 HARM desk model. Development of the AGM High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) was initiated by Texas Instruments, which aimed to create a weapon to replace the AGM-45 Strike and the AGM-78. However, production changed hands when Raytheon took over Texas defense production arm. Nonetheless, the AGM88 was a program that responded to a request from the US Navy. The missile was supposed to be equipped onto the A-6E, A-7, and some F/A-18 units, but technicalities caused a change in plans. The HARM missile was officially produced in March 1983 and was introduced in 1985 as an equipment of the VA-72 and the VA-46 aboard USS America. The US Air Force introduced the missile as an equipment of the F-16, together with its specialized targeting system. In detail, the AGM-88 is an air-to-ground missile fired against electronic transmissions of enemy surface-to-air radar systems. The missile has a guidance system (the Harm Targeting System) that allows it to fix in on the radar emissions. It also has a smokeless rocket motor that gives it an outstanding speed of more than Mach 2. The first combat of the AGM-88 would be the 1986 skirmish in the Gulf of Sidra against a Libyan SA-5 site. Scale: 1/13. Length 13 inches.
