The cruise missile has become one of the preferred weapons of the United States military over the last 20 years. The Gryphon is a mobile Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) designed to serve as a tactical nuclear weapon in Europe. It is virtually identical to the non-nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles used by the United States in several Middle East conflicts. Beginning in 1983 BGM-109Gs were stationed in England, Belgium, Germany and Italy. They were wildly unpopular with the populations of these countries and large protests were held in all four nations. In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty which called for the elimination of the Gryphon and similarly ranged Soviet missiles. This treaty marked the first ever reduction in nuclear forces. The last of them were deactivated in 1991 and all but a handful that were saved for museums were destroyed.
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