The AQM-37 Jayhawk (originally designated the Beech KD2B) is an air-launched supersonic target drone manufactured by Beechcraft capable of simulating inbound ICBM warhead packages for fleet shoot-down exercises. Development AQM-37 In 1959, the US Navy and US Air Force issued a joint request for a new high-speed expendable target. Beechcraft won the competition, and the result was a small delta-winged drone with wingtip fins and a liquid rocket motor, originally designated XKD2B-1 but now known as the AQM-37. The type first flew in May 1961, entered service with the US Navy in 1963, and remains in service. The original version was the AQM-37A or Beech Model 1019. The AQM-37A was followed by a confusing list of subvariants, some of which were new production, others which were modifications of existing AQM-37s. These variants were intended to simulate different classes of threats, such as sea-skimming antiship missiles or high-altitude naval attack missiles, or provide better performance. One high-performance variant with improved thermal protection attained a speed of Mach 4.7 and an altitude of over 112,000 feet (34 kilometers) on a ballistic trajectory. The final US Navy variant was designated AQM-37C. After an evaluation of the AQM-37A in the late 1960s, the US Army bought a small initial batch of Model 1100/1101 AQM-37As that, unlike other variants, were recoverable, using a parachute system. Some of this batch were intended for low-altitude operation and fitted with a radar altimeter, and others were intended for high-altitude operation and had a barometric altimeter. The Army later ordered over 400 improved non-recoverable Model 1102 variants of the AQM-37A. The USAF evaluated the AQM-37 in the early 1970s but was slow to adopt it. Records of USAF procurement of the type are sketchy, but it does seem to be currently part of the Air Force target inventory. Small quantities of AQM-37s were also sold to Italy, Israel, and France, while Shorts in Britain built under licence several hundred of the type as the Shorts SD.2 Stiletto. The Meteor company of Italy built a number of AQM-37s under license. All variants are air-launched, with the US Navy traditionally using the F-4 Phantom for the job and the British using the Canberra. More than 5,000 AQM-37 targets of all variants have been delivered since the early 1960s. On 22 September 2022 the U.S. Navy conducted the final AQM-37 target launch. The AQM-37's engine is built by Rocketdyne, though in some