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The UGM-89 Perseus was a proposed U.S. Navy submarine-launched anti-ship (AShM) and anti-submarine (ASW) cruise missile that was developed under the Submarine Tactical Missile (STAM) project, which was also referred to as the Submarine Anti-ship Weapon System (STAWS). This missile system was to be the centerpiece for a proposed third-generation nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine championed by then-Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, the influential but controversial head of the Navy's nuclear propulsion program.[3][4]
The Navy issued the STAM requirement in March 1969, and the Polaris, Poseidon, and Trident submarine-launched strategic ballistic missile (SLBM) systems for the U.S. Navy.[7] In February 1970, the missile designation ZUGM-89A Perseus was reserved for the U.S. Navy presumably for the STAM/STAWS missile development program.[5][8]
Because of its large size, the UGM-89 Perseus missile could not be launched from the Navy's standard 21-inch (533 mm) submarine torpedo tubes, but would be carried in a vertical launch system (VLS) housed within the proposed cruise missile submarine's hull. Twenty VLS tubes would be located in a separate compartment situated between the submarine's operations and reactor compartments.[3][4] The individual launcher tube would be 30 x 300 inches (76.2 x 762 cm) in dimension.[4] The missile warhead payload would be a new 21-inch (533 mm) diameter homing torpedo to be developed concurrently with the UGM-89 Perseus missile.[2][5]
By 1971, the STAM project had evolved into a long-range advanced cruise missile (ACM) program capable of undertaking a variety of combat missions, including strategic nuclear strike (see table below).[4] The proposed ACM versions of the UGM-89 Perseus STAM would use a slightly enlarged launch tube (40 x 400 inches, or 101.6 x 1016 cm), and 1979 would have been the date for its initial operational capability (IOC).[4]
The UGM-89 Perseus missile system was cancelled in 1973, and its proposed nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine platform was officially cancelled in 1974, with the Navy deciding to build the less expensive Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, which would subsequently carry both the Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles.[2][3][4][5] The ASW component of the UGM-89 Perseus would later serve as the baseline for the proposed Sea Lance stand-off ASW missile system.[4][6]
United States Navy, Boeing, Uum-44 Subroc, Radioplane BTT, Mgm-140 Atacms
SSM-N-8 Regulus, Beechcraft AQM-37 Jayhawk, McDonnell Aircraft, Northrop Corporation, Ryan Firebee
Taiwan, South Korea, United States, Gulf War, Iraq War
SSM-N-8 Regulus, Cruise missile, Submarine, Land-attack missile, Anti-ship missile
Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, Lockheed Constellation, Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar, Lockheed Martin
Radioplane BTT, Mgm-140 Atacms, SSM-N-8 Regulus, LGM-30 Minuteman, Beechcraft AQM-37 Jayhawk
Aviation, United States, United States Navy, Radioplane BTT, Mgm-140 Atacms