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I COULD TELL YOU BUT THEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE DESTROYED BY ME -- EMBLEMS FROM THE PENTAGON'S BLACK WORLD |
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KILLER WHALE, DETERRITUM PER TESTANDUM SUPRA TERRAM "Killer Whale" was a nickname for the AGM-137 Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, also known as TSSAM, which was a 1980s project to develop a stealth cruise missile. The name "Killer Whale" has a somewhat complicated history. In the early 1980s, Northrop developed a stealthy prototype aircraft codenamed "TACIT BLUE," which pioneered the use of rounded shapes for stealth aircraft. Because of the plane's unusual shape, it became known as the "Whale" or "Shamu," and the Northrop crews working on the project at Groom Lake became known as "whalers." After TACIT BLUE, which was unarmed, proved that this stealth technology was effective, Northrop began work on the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile, which was a variation on the TACIT BLUE design, and resembled the unusually-shaped stealth aircraft. Thus, while the unarmed TACIT BLUE was known as the "Whale," its cruise missile cousin became known as the "Killer Whale." The Latin phrase "Deterritum Per Testandum Supra Terram" is hard to decipher. The words vaguely translate as "Deterrence/Through/Witness/Above/Earth. Members of the test team choose to interpret it loosely as "Deterrence Through Flight Test."
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