These U.S. Military Drone Missiles Were Powered By Harley-Davidson Engines

The world’s biggest names and biggest brands have a way of cropping up in unexpected places. Oftentimes, that’s the very same way they became so ubiquitous in the first place. Is Harley-Davidson a powerhouse of the world of motorcycles? Yes, absolutely, but more broadly, it’s also a globally renowned manufacturer of engines, having developed an enormous range of them in its history. Harley engines have, in turn, powered a surprising variety of machines, including the 1962 Servi-Car Police Motorcycle of the Watsonville Police Department and even a drone missile.
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The United States armed forces have a history of fielding all manner of drones, from the smallest and subtlest recon machines to the largest and most destructive of flying weapons. Each has had a powertrain as fitting as possible to its size, role, and so on, and different manufacturers have provided them. In the case of the AQM-37 Jayhawk drone, a unique Harley engine was used for the job: The rocket-powered LR-64 engine.
Let’s take a look at the creation and history of the AQM-37 Jayhawk, how Harley’s engine came to be a critical part of it, and how it performed. One thing’s for certain: This is a very different beast from the likes of the trusty Milwaukee Eight that lots of riders will typically associate with the company.
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[Image by Dual Freq via Wikimedia Commons | Resized and cropped | Public Domain]