The Hound Dog missile's airframe was an adaptation of technology developed in the SM-64 Navaho missile, adapted for launching from the B-52.
The Hound Dog's design was based on that of the Navaho G-38 missile, which featured small delta wings and forward canards.

A Pratt & Whitney J52-P-3 turbojet propelled the Hound Dog, instead of Navaho's ramjet engine.
The J52 engine was located in a pod located beneath the rear fuselage.
The J52-P-3 used in the Hound Dog, unlike J52s installed in aircraft like the A-4 Skyhawk or the A-6 Intruder, was optimized to run at maximum power during the missile's flight.
As a result, the Hound Dog's version of the J52 had a short operating lifetime of only six hours.
However, in combat, the Hound Dog was expected to self-destruct in less than six hours.

A derivative of the Navaho's NAA Autonetics Division N-6 inertial navigation system (INS), the N5G, was used in the Hound Dog.
A Kollsman Instruments Co. star tracker located in the B-52's pylon was used to correct inertial navigation system orientation errors with celestial observations while the Hound Dog was being carried by the B-52.
The INS could also be used to determine the bomber's position after the initial calibration and "leveling" process, which took about 90 minutes.
The Hound Dog had a circular error probable (CEP) of 2.2 miles (3.5 km), which was acceptable for a weapon equipped with a nuclear warhead.

The thermonuclear warhead carried by the Hound Dog was the W28 Class D. The W28 warhead could be preset to yield an explosive power of between 70 kilotons and 1.45 megatons.
Detonation of the Hound Dog's W28 warhead could be programmed to occur on impact (ground burst) or air burst at a preset altitude.
An air burst would have been used against a large area, soft target.
A  surface impact would have been used against a hard target such as a missile site or command and control center.

The Hound Dog could be launched from the B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes or low altitudes, but not below 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in altitude.
Initially, three different flight profiles for the Hound Dog were available for selection by the commander and the bombardier of the bomber (though other options were added later):
High-altitude attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a high altitude (up to 56,000 feet (17,000 m) depending on the amount of jet fuel on board the missile) all the way to the immediate area of its target, then diving to its nuclear warhead's preset detonation altitude.

Low-altitude attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a low altitude – below 5,000 feet (1,500 m) (air-pressure altitude) to its target where its nuclear warhead would have detonated.
In this mode of operation, the Hound Dog had a shortened range of about 400 miles (640 km) when this flight profile was used.
The missile would not carry out terrain following in this flight profile.
No major terrain obstructions could exist at the preset altitude along the missile's flight path.

Low-altitude attack: The GAM-77B (later AGM-28B) could fly a low radar altitude, from 3,000 to 100 feet (914 to 30 m) above the ground.
As mentioned above in the GAM-77A model description, this shortened range.
However, the improvement of "flying in the weeds", was such that the missile could be flown down in ground clutter (radar) thus nearly invisible to radar detection.
Eventually, all A model GAM-77s were given this modification as well.

A dogleg attack: The Hound Dog would have flown along a designated heading (at either  high or low altitudes) to a preset location.
At that location the missile would have turned left or right and then proceeded to its target.
The intention of this maneuver was to attempt to draw defensive fighter planes away from the missile's target.

The first air-drop test of a dummy Hound Dog was carried out in November 1958.
52 GAM-77A missiles were launched for testing and training purposes between 23 April 1959 and 30 August 1965.
Hound Dog launches occurred at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and at the White Sands Missile Ra
The Hound Dog missile's airframe was an adaptation of technology developed in the SM-64 Navaho missile, adapted for launching from the B-52. The Hound Dog's design was based on that of the Navaho G-38 missile, which featured small delta wings and forward canards.
A Pratt & Whitney J52-P-3 turbojet propelled the Hound Dog, instead of Navaho's ramjet engine. The J52 engine was located in a pod located beneath the rear fuselage. The J52-P-3 used in the Hound Dog, unlike J52s installed in aircraft like the A-4 Skyhawk or the A-6 Intruder, was optimized to run at maximum power during the missile's flight. As a result, the Hound Dog's version of the J52 had a short operating lifetime of only six hours. However, in combat, the Hound Dog was expected to self-destruct in less than six hours.
A derivative of the Navaho's NAA Autonetics Division N-6 inertial navigation system (INS), the N5G, was used in the Hound Dog. A Kollsman Instruments Co. star tracker located in the B-52's pylon was used to correct inertial navigation system orientation errors with celestial observations while the Hound Dog was being carried by the B-52. The INS could also be used to determine the bomber's position after the initial calibration and "leveling" process, which took about 90 minutes. The Hound Dog had a circular error probable (CEP) of 2.2 miles (3.5 km), which was acceptable for a weapon equipped with a nuclear warhead.
The thermonuclear warhead carried by the Hound Dog was the W28 Class D. The W28 warhead could be preset to yield an explosive power of between 70 kilotons and 1.45 megatons. Detonation of the Hound Dog's W28 warhead could be programmed to occur on impact (ground burst) or air burst at a preset altitude. An air burst would have been used against a large area, soft target. A  surface impact would have been used against a hard target such as a missile site or command and control center.
The Hound Dog could be launched from the B-52 Stratofortress at high altitudes or low altitudes, but not below 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in altitude. Initially, three different flight profiles for the Hound Dog were available for selection by the commander and the bombardier of the bomber (though other options were added later):
High-altitude attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a high altitude (up to 56,000 feet (17,000 m) depending on the amount of jet fuel on board the missile) all the way to the immediate area of its target, then diving to its nuclear warhead's preset detonation altitude.
Low-altitude attack: The Hound Dog would have flown at a low altitude – below 5,000 feet (1,500 m) (air-pressure altitude) to its target where its nuclear warhead would have detonated. In this mode of operation, the Hound Dog had a shortened range of about 400 miles (640 km) when this flight profile was used. The missile would not carry out terrain following in this flight profile. No major terrain obstructions could exist at the preset altitude along the missile's flight path.
Low-altitude attack: The GAM-77B (later AGM-28B) could fly a low radar altitude, from 3,000 to 100 feet (914 to 30 m) above the ground. As mentioned above in the GAM-77A model description, this shortened range. However, the improvement of "flying in the weeds", was such that the missile could be flown down in ground clutter (radar) thus nearly invisible to radar detection. Eventually, all A model GAM-77s were given this modification as well.
A dogleg attack: The Hound Dog would have flown along a designated heading (at either  high or low altitudes) to a preset location. At that location the missile would have turned left or right and then proceeded to its target. The intention of this maneuver was to attempt to draw defensive fighter planes away from the missile's target.
The first air-drop test of a dummy Hound Dog was carried out in November 1958. 52 GAM-77A missiles were launched for testing and training purposes between 23 April 1959 and 30 August 1965. Hound Dog launches occurred at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and at the White Sands Missile Ra
AGM-28 Hound Dog