The X-10 proved to be quite a high-performance aircraft for its time.
Here s What You Need to Know: The X-10 program proved successful and continued through November 1956.
During the early days of the Cold War, the U.S. military sought new ways of delivering a nuclear warhead to a target. One platform to do that, the Navaho surface-to-surface cruise missile, utilized the North American Aviation (NAA) RTV-A-5 (Research Test Vehicle, Air Force). Also known as the X-10, the turbojet-powered aircraft was used to test the flight characteristics and guidance, navigation, and control systems for the planned SM-64 Navaho.
Named after the Navaho Nation, the Navaho was intended to be a supersonic intercontinental cruise missile that could be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to the targets within the Soviet Union from bases within the continental United States while cruising at Mach 3 at 60,000 feet.
The X-10 Was Built to Smash Russia in a Nuclear War
North American built 13 X-10s, ten of which were used in test flights, with the first of those occurred in October 1953. They had one mission.
During the early days of the Cold War, the U.S. military sought new ways of delivering a nuclear warhead to a target. One platform to do that, the Navaho surface-to-surface cruise missile, utilized the North American Aviation (NAA) RTV-A-5 (Research Test Vehicle, Air Force). Also known as the X-10, the turbojet-powered aircraft was used to test the flight characteristics and guidance, navigation, and control systems for the planned SM-64 Navaho.