page_title: Lockheed X-7
section_title: Purpose
hierarchical_section_title: Lockheed X-7 / Purpose
caption_attribution_description: English: X-7 being prepared for loading and test flight.
context_page_description: The Lockheed X-7 was an American unmanned test bed of the 1950s for ramjet engines and missile guidance technology. It was the basis for the later Lockheed AQM-60 Kingfisher, a system used to test American air defenses against nuclear missile attack.
context_section_description: The X-7 laid the foundation for the AQM-60 Kingfisher.  Being the testbed for several yearlong projects, the X-7 underwent many structural changes to adapt more closely for its intended purpose.  The Kingfisher was put up against three surface to air missiles designed to test the capabilities of the X-7; SAM-A-7/MIM-3 Nike Ajax, SAM-A-25/MIM-14 Nike Hercules, and IM-99/CIM-10 Bomarc were the missiles used in the tests.  During the testing of the SAMs, the X-7 outperformed the missiles and a very small number of critical hits were achieved.  Due to the pressure and embarrassment put on the military the X-7 project was canned in the mid-1960s.
  Besides the surface to air missile tests, the X-7 project was also used to test communication equipment for acceleration testing, testing aerodynamics, booster propellants, thermodynamics, and parachutes.
caption: Lockheed X-7A-1 being prepared for loading and test flight. The white section is the booster. (B-50 seen in background)
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