Volunteers and 28th Maintenance Squadron maintainers at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., refurbished one of the remaining AGM-28 Hound Dog cruise missiles for display at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum in Box Elder. The dilapidated former nuclear cruise missile was found “basically languishing in a hanger,” before volunteers began the challenging task of restoring it, said museum curator Duane Cole, reported the Rapid City Journal. Designed for external carriage on the B-52, the 43-foot-long Hound Dog entered service with Strategic Air Comand in the early 1960s. Nearly 700 were built. The Air Force retired the last AGM-28 in 1978. The museum unveiled the missile on May 7. (See also National Museum of the US Air Force AGM-28 fact sheet and Day of the Hound Dog from Air Force Magazine’s archives.)
Earlier this week, the People’s Republic of China confirmed it is halting its nuclear arms control talks with the U.S., in retaliation for the U.S. continuing to sell arms to Taiwan. The move reinforces a “pattern of behavior” from Beijing, experts say.