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111-575: The AIM-9 Sidewinder ("AIM" for "Air Interception Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile . Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants remain standard equipment in most Western-aligned air forces. The Soviet K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll"), a reverse-engineered copy of

222-561: A SARH (semi-active radar homing) variant (AIM-9C) and an IR (AIM-9D) in 1963. The AIM-9C's semi-active radar was exclusively tied to the F-8 Crusader 's radar and fire control system (FCS). A total of around 1,000 AIM-9C missiles were launched from 1965 to 1967, but their usage in Vietnam war proved unsuccessful, downing no enemies. A filter modification program for reworked units (to allow high altitude capability up to 18,288m (60,000 feet) This

333-530: A solid rocket motor for propulsion, similar to most conventional missiles, a continuous-rod fragmentation warhead , and an infrared seeker . The seeker tracks a difference in temperatures detected and uses proportional guidance to achieve impact. Older variants such as the AIM-9B with uncooled seeker heads could only track the high temperatures of engine exhaust , making them strictly rear aspect. Later variants, however, featured liquid nitrogen coolant bottles in

444-671: A combination of any of those three warhead types) is typically used in the attempt to disable or destroy the target aircraft. Warheads are typically detonated by a proximity fuze or by an impact fuze if it scores a direct hit. Less commonly, nuclear warheads have been mounted on a small number of air-to-air missile types (such as the AIM-26 Falcon ) although these are not known to have ever been used in combat. Guided missiles operate by detecting their target (usually by either radar or infrared methods, although rarely others such as laser guidance or optical tracking ), and then "homing" in on

555-451: A cone shape as the distance from the attacking aircraft increases. This will result in less accuracy for the missile because the beam may actually be larger than the target aircraft when the missile arrives. The missile could be securely within the beam but still not be close enough to destroy the target. Infrared guided (IR) missiles home on the heat produced by an aircraft. Early infra-red detectors had poor sensitivity, so could only track

666-640: A contract to support Sidewinder operations through to 2055. Air Force spokeswoman Stephanie Powell said that its relatively low cost, versatility, and reliability mean it is "very possible that the Sidewinder will remain in Air Force inventories through the late 21st century". The AIM-9 was a product of the US Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in the Mojave Desert . It features a lightweight, compact design with cruciform canards and tail fins. It uses

777-517: A heat-homing rocket. The name Sidewinder was selected in 1950 and is the common name of Crotalus cerastes , a rattlesnake , which uses infrared sensory organs to hunt warm-blooded prey. It did not receive official funding until 1951 when the effort was mature enough to show to Admiral William "Deak" Parsons , the Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd). It subsequently received designation as

888-719: A lens around its center of gravity , thus allowing for easy and smooth manipulation while tracking moving subjects. Very large gimbal mounts in the form 2 or 3 axis altitude-altitude mounts are used in satellite photography for tracking purposes. Gyrostabilized gimbals which house multiple sensors are also used for airborne surveillance applications including airborne law enforcement, pipe and power line inspection, mapping , and ISR ( intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ). Sensors include thermal imaging , daylight, low light cameras as well as laser range finder , and illuminators . Gimbal systems are also used in scientific optics equipment. For example, they are used to rotate

999-414: A material sample along an axis to study their angular dependence of optical properties. Handheld 3-axis gimbals are used in stabilization systems designed to give the camera operator the independence of handheld shooting without camera vibration or shake. There are two versions of such stabilization systems: mechanical and motorized. Mechanical gimbals have the sled, which includes the top stage where

1110-605: A more powerful motor that allows the missile to maneuver against crossing targets and launch at greater ranges, gives the launching aircraft improved tactical freedom. Other members of the 4th generation use focal plane arrays to offer greatly improved scanning and countermeasures resistance (especially against flares). These missiles are also much more agile, some by employing thrust vectoring (typically gimballed thrust ). The latest generation of short-range missiles again defined by advances in seeker technologies, this time electro-optical imaging infrared (IIR) seekers that allow

1221-576: A narrow (30-degree) field of view and required the attacker to position himself behind the target ( rear aspect engagement ). This meant that the target aircraft only had to perform a slight turn to move outside the missile seeker's field of view and cause the missile to lose track of the target ("break lock"). The second-generation of short-range missiles utilized more effective seekers that were better cooled than its predecessors while being typically "uncaged"; resulting in improved sensitivity to heat signatures, an increase in field of view as well as allowing

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1332-685: A new nose dome and superior optical filtering. Conversions were done to European AIM-9B to upgrade them to the FGW.2 standard. The official designation is the AIM-9B FGW.2 but it is known as the AIM-9F in US nomenclature. The AIM-9G was very similar to the AIM-9D in most aspects, and did not differ externally. The AIM-9G was an AIM-9D that used an improved AIM-9D seeker head with SEAM (Sidewinder Extended Acquisition Mode), this allowed

1443-466: A portable warming stove to Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690–705) which employed gimbals. Extant specimens of Chinese gimbals used for incense burners date to the early Tang dynasty (618–907), and were part of the silver -smithing tradition in China. The authenticity of Philo's description of a cardan suspension has been doubted by some authors on the ground that the part of Philo's Pneumatica which describes

1554-616: A program in 1952. Originally called the Sidewinder 1 , the first live firing was on 3 September 1952. The missile intercepted a drone for the first time on 11 September 1953. The missile carried out 51 guided flights in 1954, and in 1955 production was authorized. In 1954, the US Air Force carried out trials with the original AIM-9A and the improved AIM-9B at the Holloman Air Development Center. The first operational use of

1665-478: A radio proximity fuze could be used. These improvements were all added into AIM-9D and went into service with the USN. Around 1,000 AIM-9D units were produced from 1965 to 1969. The primary problem of the AIM-9D was breakup during launch. The AIM-9D was eventually developed into AIM-9G. ATM-9D (USN) : AIM-9D used for captive flight target acquisition training. GDU-1/B : AIM-9D used for firing practice. The AIM-9E "Echo"

1776-411: A rocket of some type and the control actuation system or CAS. Dual-thrust solid-fuel rockets are common, but some longer-range missiles use liquid-fuel motors that can "throttle" to extend their range and preserve fuel for energy-intensive final maneuvering. Some solid-fuelled missiles mimic this technique with a second rocket motor which burns during the terminal homing phase. There are missiles, such as

1887-407: A specified range. Towed decoys which closely mimic engine heat and infra-red jammers can also be used. Some large aircraft and many combat helicopters make use of so-called "hot brick" infra-red jammers, typically mounted near the engines. Current research is developing laser devices which can spoof or destroy the guidance systems of infra-red guided missiles. See Infrared countermeasure . Start of

1998-420: A spinning disk with lines painted on it, alternately known as a "reticle" or "chopper". The reticle spun at a fixed speed, causing the output of the photocell to be interrupted in a pattern, and the precise timing of the resulting signal indicated the bearing of the target. Although Hamburg and similar devices like Madrid were essentially complete, the work of mating them to a missile had not been carried out by

2109-558: A target from various angles, not just from behind, where the heat signature from the engines is strongest. Other types rely on radar guidance (either on-board or "painted" by the launching aircraft). In 1999 R-73 missile were adapted by Serb forces for surface to air missiles. The Houthi movement Missile Research and Development Centre and the Missile Force have tried to fire R-27/R-60/R-73/R-77 against Saudi aircraft. Using stockpiles of missiles from Yemeni Air Force stocks. The issue for

2220-418: A view recently also shared by the classicist Andrew Wilson (2002). The ancient Roman author Athenaeus Mechanicus , writing during the reign of Augustus (30 BC–14 AD), described the military use of a gimbal-like mechanism, calling it "little ape" ( pithêkion ). When preparing to attack coastal towns from the sea-side, military engineers used to yoke merchant-ships together to take the siege machines up to

2331-845: A wide variety of missile projects were underway, from huge systems like the Bell Bomi rocket-powered bomber to small systems like air-to-air missiles. By the early 1950s, both the US Air Force and Royal Air Force had started major IR seeker missile projects. The development of the Sidewinder missile began in 1946 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), Inyokern, California, now the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake , as an in-house research project conceived by William B. McLean . McLean initially called his effort "Local Fuze Project 602" using laboratory funding, volunteer help and fuze funding to develop what they called

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2442-468: Is a very limited weapon, but it had no serious competitors and counters when it was introduced, causing it to be adopted by the USAF and NATO as a standard weapon, with around 80,000 units being produced from 1958 to 1962. The viewing angle of the AIM-9B's sensor was a minuscule 4 degrees, so at launch, the pilot had to accurately aim the aircraft's sight over or above the target (to account for drag). The speed of

2553-456: Is called "off- boresight " launch. For example, the Russian Su-27 is equipped with an infra-red search and track (IRST) system with laser rangefinder for its HMS-aimed missiles. A recent advancement in missile guidance is electro-optical imaging. The Israeli Python-5 has an electro-optical seeker that scans designated area for targets via optical imaging. Once a target is acquired,

2664-564: Is more accurate and somewhat more resistant to countermeasures. The new rocket motor burns longer and the redesigned body makes the R-13M more maneuverable. K-13M1/R-13M1 : Improved R-13M with new forward fins introduced in 1976. The lackluster performance of the AIM-9B caused the Navy to look for successor. And in 1963 the AAM-N-7 Sidewinder IC was designed, It was developed in two variations:

2775-577: Is possible for the system to take missiles straight from an aircraft. After a live-fire test occurred in September 2020 off the coasts of Florida, during which it successfully engaged a simulated cruise missile, in 2022 NASAMS was deployed to Ukraine, where for the first time this missile system was used in real combat conditions, and, according to Ukrainian government, was able to shot down more than 100 aerial targets. A conventional explosive blast warhead, fragmentation warhead, or continuous rod warhead (or

2886-573: Is safe to assume the Arabic version is a faithful copying of Philo's original, and credits Philon explicitly with the invention. So does his colleague Michael Lewis (2001). In fact, research by the latter scholar (1997) demonstrates that the Arab copy contains sequences of Greek letters which fell out of use after the 1st century, thereby strengthening the case that it is a faithful copy of the Hellenistic original,

2997-449: Is sensitive to its orientation. Because of this, chronometers were normally mounted on gimbals, in order to isolate them from the rocking motions of a ship at sea. Gimbal lock is the loss of one degree of freedom in a three-dimensional, three-gimbal mechanism that occurs when the axes of two of the three gimbals are driven into a parallel configuration, "locking" the system into rotation in a degenerate two-dimensional space. The word lock

3108-589: Is still a limitation to some degree) and could be distracted by the sun, a reflection of the sun off of a cloud or ground object, or any other "hot" object within its view. More modern infra-red guided missiles can detect the heat of an aircraft's skin, warmed by the friction of airflow, in addition to the fainter heat signature of the engine when the aircraft is seen from the side or head-on. This, combined with greater maneuverability, gives them an " all-aspect " capability, and an attacking aircraft no longer had to be behind its target to fire. Although launching from behind

3219-489: Is subject to a minimum range, before which it cannot maneuver effectively. In order to maneuver sufficiently from a poor launch angle at short ranges to hit its target, some missiles use thrust vectoring , which allow the missile to start turning "off the rail", before its motor has accelerated it up to high enough speeds for its small aerodynamic surfaces to be useful. Short-range air-to-air missiles (SRAAMs), typically used in " dogfighting " or close range air combat compare to

3330-414: Is that it enables a " fire-and-forget " mode of attack, where the attacking aircraft is free to pursue other targets or escape the area after launching the missile. Semi-active radar homing (SARH) guided missiles are simpler and more common. They function by detecting radar energy reflected from the target. The radar energy is emitted from the launching aircraft's own radar system. However, this means that

3441-512: Is the "home on jam" mode which, when installed, allows a radar-guided missile to home in on the jammer of the target aircraft if the primary seeker is jammed by the electronic countermeasures of the target aircraft. Air-to-air missiles are typically long, thin cylinders in order to reduce their cross section and thus minimize drag at the high speeds at which they travel. Missiles are divided into five primary systems (moving forward to aft): seeker, guidance, warhead, motor, and control actuation. At

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3552-528: The R-60M or the Python-3 . The R-73 (missile) ( AA-11 Archer ) entered service in 1985 and marked a new generation of dogfight missile. It had a wider field of view and could be cued onto a target using a helmet mounted sight . This allowed it to be launched at targets that would otherwise not be seen by older generation missiles that generally stared forward while waiting to be launched. This capability, combined with

3663-503: The AIM-95 Agile and SRAAM that were intended to replace it. The Sidewinder is the most widely used air-to-air missile in the West, with more than 110,000 missiles produced for the U.S. and 27 other nations, of which perhaps one percent have been used in combat. It has been built under license by Sweden and other nations. The AIM-9 has an estimated 270 aircraft kills. In 2010, Boeing won

3774-665: The ASRAAM and Sea Ceptor . The air-to-air missile grew out of the unguided air-to-air rockets used during the First World War . Le Prieur rockets were sometimes attached to the struts of biplanes and fired electrically, usually against observation balloons , by such early pilots as Albert Ball and A. M. Walters. Facing the Allied air superiority, Germany in World War II invested limited effort into missile research, initially adapting

3885-496: The Little Key of Painting' ( mappae clavicula ). The French inventor Villard de Honnecourt depicts a set of gimbals in his sketchbook (see right). In the early modern period, dry compasses were suspended in gimbals. In inertial navigation, as applied to ships and submarines, a minimum of three gimbals are needed to allow an inertial navigation system (stable table) to remain fixed in inertial space, compensating for changes in

3996-446: The beyond-visual-range missiles . Most of the short-range air-to-air missiles are infrared guided . Those missiles usually classified into five "generations" according to the historical technological advances. Most of these advances were in infrared seeker technology (later combined with digital signal processing ). Early short-range missiles such as the early Sidewinders and K-13 (missile) ( AA-2 Atoll ) had infrared seekers with

4107-427: The conical scan was very slow, additionally, the uncooled missile had a low sensitivity and was liable to extraneous heat. The AIM-9B was recommended for use on non-threatening targets (like bombers), only from behind (so it can lock on the thermal radiation from the target engines) and only with the sun behind or to the side of the launching aircraft (as the missile would lock onto it due to its thermal radiation). It

4218-492: The 21st century missiles such as the ASRAAM use an " imaging infrared " seeker which "sees" the target (much like a digital video camera), and can distinguish between an aircraft and a point heat source such as a flare. They also feature a very wide detection angle, so the attacking aircraft does not have to be pointing straight at the target for the missile to lock on. The pilot can use a helmet mounted sight (HMS) and target another aircraft by looking at it, and then firing. This

4329-549: The AIM-9B, but is worse than the "D". The canard design was changed to a squared tip double delta planform, this helped improve canard behaviour at higher angles of attack (AOA). Over 5,000 AIM-9B's were rebuilt into AIM-9E's. The AIM-9E appeared in Vietnam after the conclusion of the Operation Rolling Thunder in 1968, with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), becoming one of their main missile armaments. Up until Operation Linebacker in 1972 intense air-to-air activity in Vietnam

4440-543: The AIM-9B, was also widely adopted. Low-level development started in the late 1940s, emerging in the early 1950s as a guidance system for the modular Zuni rocket . This modularity allowed for the introduction of newer seekers and rocket motors, including the AIM-9C variant, which used semi-active radar homing and served as the basis of the AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radar missile . Due to the Sidewinder's infrared guidance system,

4551-488: The MBDA Meteor, that "breathe" air (using a ramjet , similar to a jet engine) in order to extend their range. Modern missiles use "low-smoke" motors – early missiles produced thick smoke trails, which were easily seen by the crew of the target aircraft alerting them to the attack and helping them determine how to evade it. The CAS is typically an electro-mechanical, servo control actuation system, which takes input from

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4662-482: The Navy opted for a different approach after Walt Freitag, a USN engineer proposed a full change to solid-state in one missile. The "H" variant had major changes over the AIM-9D/G, which had multiple issues with reliability. One of the issues was the intolerance of the vacuum tubes to repeated 20ft/sec sink rate landings by US Navy aircraft on carrier decks. The "H" was the first Sidewinder to be fully solid state, replacing

4773-530: The R-27 and R-77 is the lack of a radar to support their guidance to the target. However the R-73 and R-60 are infra-red heat seeking missiles. They only require, power, liquid nitrogen "to cool the seeker head" and a pylon to launch the missile. These missiles have been paired with a "US made FLIR Systems ULTRA 8500 turrets". Only one near miss has been verified and that was a R-27T fired at Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA. However

4884-643: The Taiwan strait resulted in a AIM-9B becoming lodged in a MiG-17 without exploding, allowing it to be removed after landing. The Soviets later became aware that the Chinese had at least one Sidewinder, and after some wrangling, were able to persuade the Chinese to send them one of the captured missiles. K-13/R-3 (AA-2) Variants : K-13/R-3 (Object 300) (AA-2 Atoll): It was the standard variant and entered limited service only two years later in 1960. K-13A/R-3S (Object 310) (AA-2A Atoll) : This entered service in 1962. The R-3S

4995-580: The US that early F-4 variants were armed only with missiles in the 1960s. High casualty rates during the Vietnam War caused the US to reintroduce autocannon and traditional dogfighting tactics but the missile remains the primary weapon in air combat. In the Falklands War British Harriers , using AIM-9L missiles were able to defeat faster Argentinian opponents. Since the late 20th century all-aspect heat-seeking designs can lock-on to

5106-566: The USAF did not use) ATM-9G (USN) : AIM-9G used for captive flight target acquisition training. Within December 1965, two designers McLean and LaBerge (who were employed by Philco-Ford) came together to create ways to improve the AIM-9G's reliability. One submission was to advance all the remaining missile electronic components from vacuum to solid-state gradually.The US Air Force adhered to this steady replacement of their AIM-9's to solid-state, however

5217-481: The USN's AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder . Post-war research led the Royal Air Force to introduce Fairey Fireflash into service in 1957 but their results were unsuccessful. The Soviet Air Force introduced its K-5 into service in 1957. As missile systems have continued to advance, modern air warfare consists almost entirely of missile firing. The use of beyond-visual-range combat became so pervasive in

5328-404: The aircraft, rendering it inoperable. The continuous rod warhead features rods welded together to form a cylindrical outer shell, with explosive filler inside. Upon detonation, the rods are scattered in a toroidal shape, ensuring that at least some portion of the shrapnel hits enemy aircraft. Newer models of the AIM-9 sought to increase the range that the seeker head's gimbal can turn, allowing

5439-446: The amount of energy devoted to actuating control surfaces, the AIM-9 does not use active roll stabilization. Instead, it uses rollerons , small metal discs protruding out of the aft end of the tips of the tail fins which spin as the missile flies through the air, providing gyroscopic stabilization. The AIM-9 uses a passive infrared proximity fuze to detonate its warhead near an enemy aircraft, scattering shrapnel that aims to damage

5550-683: The anti-radiation missile (ARM) design, pioneered during Vietnam and used to home in against emitting surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites, to an air intercept weapon. Current air-to-air passive anti-radiation missile development is thought to be a countermeasure to airborne early warning and control (AEW&C – also known as AEW or AWACS) aircraft which typically mount powerful search radars. Due to their dependence on target aircraft radar emissions, when used against fighter aircraft passive anti-radiation missiles are primarily limited to forward-aspect intercept geometry. For examples, see Vympel R-27 and Brazo . Another aspect of passive anti-radiation homing

5661-657: The attack radar to illuminate the target during part or all of the missile interception itself. Radar guidance is normally used for medium- or long-range missiles, where the infra-red signature of the target would be too faint for an infra-red detector to track. There are three major types of radar-guided missile – active, semi-active, and passive. Radar-guided missiles can be countered by rapid maneuvering (which may result in them "breaking lock", or may cause them to overshoot), deploying chaff or using electronic counter-measures . Active radar (AR)-guided missiles carry their own radar system to detect and track their target. However,

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5772-547: The brevity code " Fox two " is used when firing the AIM-9. Originally a tail-chasing system, early models saw extensive use during the Vietnam War , but had a low success rate (8% hit rate with the AIM-9E variant). This led to all-aspect capability in the L (Lima) version, which proved an effective weapon during the 1982 Falklands War and Operation Mole Cricket 19 in Lebanon. Its adaptability has kept it in service over newer designs like

5883-482: The camera is attached, the post which in most models can be extended, with the monitor and batteries at the bottom to counterbalance the camera weight. This is how the Steadicam stays upright, by simply making the bottom slightly heavier than the top, pivoting at the gimbal. This leaves the center of gravity of the whole rig, however heavy it may be, exactly at the operator's fingertip, allowing deft and finite control of

5994-472: The camera to seem as if it is floating through the air, an effect achieved by a Steadicam in the past. Gimbals can be mounted to cars and other vehicles such as drones , where vibrations or other unexpected movements would make tripods or other camera mounts unacceptable. An example which is popular in the live TV broadcast industry, is the Newton 3-axis camera gimbal . The rate of a mechanical marine chronometer

6105-424: The category of beyond-visual-range missiles (BVRAAMs), tend to rely upon radar guidance, of which there are many forms. Some modern ones use inertial guidance and/or "mid-course updates" to get the missile close enough to use an active homing sensor. The concepts of air-to-air missiles and surface-to-air missiles are closely related, and in some cases versions of the same weapon may be used for both roles, such as

6216-609: The designation AIM-9E-2 As the Sidewinder was being acquired by NATO forces, licensed production was given to West Germany and they would produce around 15,000 units. Like the Americans, the West Germans sought to improve the AIM-9B design due to its limitations. The only visible exterior difference is a greenish sensor window, but many tech improvements were added beneath the shell. Unnoticed improvements include solid state electronics (instead of vacuum tubes), carbon dioxide seeker cooling,

6327-545: The drawback is that these missiles are intended to be fired from one jet fighter against another. So the motors and fuel load are smaller than a purpose built surface to air missile. On the Western side, the Norwegian-American made NASAMS air defense system has been developed for using AIM-9 Sidewinder , IRIS-T and AMRAAM air-to-air missiles to intercept targets. None of these missiles require modifications and hence it

6438-516: The early AIM-9A & B was that a non-propulsive attachment (NPA) for their MK 15 motor was provided, assuming an assembled missile would be less dangerous to ground crew and material if the rocket motor was ignited. This same NPA was used in the AIM-9B Sidewinder as well. The AIM-9B is very similar to the AIM-9A, but the "B" has a more sophisticated rear and more aerodynamical front fins. The AIM-9B

6549-414: The front is the seeker, either a radar system, radar homer, or infra-red detector. Behind that lies the avionics which control the missile. Typically after that, in the centre of the missile, is the warhead, usually several kilograms of high explosive surrounded by metal that fragments on detonation (or in some cases, pre-fragmented metal). The rear part of the missile contains the propulsion system, usually

6660-422: The front or side aspects, as opposed to just the hotter engine nozzle(s) from rear-aspect, allowing for a true all-aspect capability. This significantly expanded potential attacking envelopes, allowing the attacker to fire at a target which was side-on or front-on to itself as opposed to just the rear. While the field-of-view was still restricted to a fairly narrow cone, the attack at least did not have to be behind

6771-488: The guidance system and manipulates the airfoils or fins at the rear of the missile that guide or steers the weapon to target. Nowadays, countries start developing hypersonic air-to-air missile using scramjet engines (such as R-37 , or AIM-260 JATM ), which not only increases efficiency for BVR battles, but it also makes survival chances of target aircraft drop to nearly zero. A number of terms frequently crop up in discussions of air-to-air missile performance. A missile

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6882-426: The hot exhaust pipes of an aircraft. This meant an attacking aircraft had to maneuver to a position behind its target before it could fire an infra-red guided missile. This also limited the range of the missile as the infra-red signature soon become too small to detect with increasing distance and after launch the missile was playing "catch-up" with its target. Early infrared seekers were unusable in clouds or rain (which

6993-469: The internal wiring harnesses. These improvements facilitated a better 100 Hz reticle rate, and a 16.5 deg/sec tracking rate. The most significant design change was the addition of cooling for the PbS detector, adding Peltier (thermoelectric) cooling, giving the advantage of unlimited cooling when positioned on the launch rail, but is only active when electrical power is present. The AIM-9E gives greater range over

7104-400: The last sighting. So if the target remained at 5 degrees left between two rotations of the mirror, the electronics would not output any signal to the control system. Consider a missile fired at right angles to its target; if the missile is flying at the same speed as the target, it should "lead" it by 45 degrees, flying to an impact point far in front of where the target was when it was fired. If

7215-417: The launch aircraft has to maintain a "lock" on the target (keep illuminating the target aircraft with its own radar) until the missile makes the interception. This limits the attacking aircraft's ability to maneuver, which may be necessary should threats to the attacking aircraft appear. An advantage of SARH-guided missiles is that they are homing on the reflected radar signal, so accuracy actually increases as

7326-475: The launchers, allowing the missile to track any part of the aircraft heated by air resistance due to high speed flight, giving modern Sidewinders all-aspect capabilities. The nose canards provide maneuverability for the AIM-9, with the AIM-9X using thrust vectoring to augment this. The hot gases generated were used to actuate the nose canards in older models, while newer variants use thermal batteries . To minimize

7437-435: The like is sometimes called a Cardan suspension after Italian mathematician and physicist Gerolamo Cardano (1501–1576) who described it in detail. However, Cardano did not invent the gimbal, nor did he claim to. The device has been known since antiquity, first described in the 3rd c. BC by Philo of Byzantium , although some modern authors support the view that it may not have a single identifiable inventor. The gimbal

7548-516: The little-used US Navy AIM-9C Sidewinder. This took longer to develop, and did not enter service until 1966. K-13M/R-13M (Object 380) (AA-2D Atoll) : The R-13M is a much improved version of the R-3S and has capabilities similar to the AIM-9G Sidewinder. The R-13M is still a tail engagement missile only but is far more capable than the R-3S due to its new seeker and rocket motor. The new cooled seeker

7659-422: The missile automatically got pre-launch instructions. The conical scanning speed was also increased greatly. The seeker head was now able to seek in a 25˚ circular scan. This allowed the AIM-9G to have an improved chance of acquiring the target than earlier models. This, along with other upgraded solid-state modules, culminated in the AIM-9G. The improvement was substantial enough that an order of 5,000 AIM-9D seekers

7770-482: The missile close to the target. At a predetermined point (frequently based on time since launch or arrival near the predicted target location) the missile's radar system is activated (the missile is said to "go active"), and the missile then homes in on the target. If the range from the attacking aircraft to the target is within the range of the missile's radar system, the missile can "go active" immediately upon launch. The great advantage of an active radar homing system

7881-500: The missile gets closer because the reflection comes from a "point source": the target. Against this, if there are multiple targets, each will be reflecting the same radar signal and the missile may become confused as to which target is its intended victim. The missile may well be unable to pick a specific target and fly through a formation without passing within lethal range of any specific aircraft. Newer missiles have logic circuits in their guidance systems to help prevent this problem. At

7992-506: The missile is traveling four times the speed of the target, it should follow an angle about 11 degrees in front. In either case, the missile should keep that angle all the way to interception, which means that the angle that the target makes against the detector is constant. It was this constant angle that the Sidewinder attempted to maintain. This " proportional pursuit " system is straightforward to implement and offers high-performance lead calculation almost for free and can respond to changes in

8103-408: The missile that allows it to home in on the jamming signal. An early form of radar guidance was " beam-riding " (BR). In this method, the attacking aircraft directs a narrow beam of radar energy at the target. The air-to-air missile was launched into the beam, where sensors on the aft of the missile controlled the missile, keeping it within the beam. So long as the beam was kept on the target aircraft,

8214-453: The missile to track aircraft at greater angles from its direct line of sight, or boresight. Models such as the AIM-9L, AIM-9M, and AIM-9X feature high off-boresight capabilities, meaning they are able to track targets at high seeker gimbal angles, or highly distant from its boresight. The Sidewinder is not guided by the actual position recorded by the detector, but by the change in position since

8325-541: The missile was by Grumman F9F-8 Cougars and FJ-3 Furies of the United States Navy in the middle of 1956. Nearly 100,000 of the first generation (AIM-9B/C/D/E) of the Sidewinder were produced with Raytheon and General Electric as major subcontractors. Philco-Ford produced the guidance and control sections of the early missiles. The NATO version of the first-generation missile was built under license in Germany by Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik ; 9,200 examples were built. AIM-9A

8436-403: The missile will lock-on to it for the kill. Electro-optical seekers can be programmed to target vital area of an aircraft, such as the cockpit. Since it does not depend on the target aircraft's heat signature, it can be used against low-heat targets such as UAVs and cruise missiles . However, clouds can get in the way of electro-optical sensors. Evolving missile guidance designs are converting

8547-405: The missile would ride the beam until making the interception. While conceptually simple, the move is hard because of the challenge of simultaneously keeping the beam solidly on the target (which could not be relied upon to cooperate by flying straight and level), continuing to fly one's own aircraft, and monitoring enemy countermeasures. An added complication was that the beam will spread out into

8658-492: The missiles to "see" images rather than single "points" of infrared radiation (heat). The sensors combined with more powerful digital signal processing provide the following benefits: Examples of fifth generation short-range missiles include: For each missile, short notes are given, including an indication of its range and guidance mechanism. Gimbal A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on

8769-458: The original vacuum tubes. The AIM-9H also included a new lead sulphide detector, using nitrogen cooling. The new guidance package was built using semiconductors. When the engineers redesigned these electronics, they essentially kept the AIM-9G's optical system, but the tracking rate increased further, from the original 12˚ to 20˚ degrees per second, this complementing the more powerful 120 lb.ft actuators that had been installed. They also replaced

8880-468: The other 7 were MiG-21s. This was due to the missile design and USN fighter pilot training at TOPGUN . The United States Air Force attempted to attain AIM-9Gs from the USN, due to bad experience with their AIM-9 Sidewinders models (B, E, and J), but they were incompatible with US Air Force's Sidewinder launchers due to the different cooling mechanisms. (the USN used a nitrogen gas container on the launcher, which

8991-465: The other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of the rotation of its support (e.g. vertical in the first animation). For example, on a ship, the gyroscopes , shipboard compasses , stoves , and even drink holders typically use gimbals to keep them upright with respect to the horizon despite the ship's pitching and rolling . The gimbal suspension used for mounting compasses and

9102-476: The possibility of leading a missile within its FOV for an increased probability of kill against a maneuvering target. In some cases, the improved sensitivity to heat signatures allows for a very limited side and even all-aspect tracking, as is the case with the Red Top missile . In conjunction with improved control surfaces and propulsion motors over the first generation of dogfight missiles, the technological advances of

9213-543: The pot is turned. In Ancient China , the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) inventor and mechanical engineer Ding Huan created a gimbal incense burner around 180 AD. There is a hint in the writing of the earlier Sima Xiangru (179–117 BC) that the gimbal existed in China since the 2nd century BC. There is mention during the Liang dynasty (502–557) that gimbals were used for hinges of doors and windows, while an artisan once presented

9324-503: The projectile of the unguided 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42 infantry barrage rocket system into the air-launched BR 21 anti-aircraft rocket in 1943; leading to the deployment of the R4M unguided rocket and the development of various guided missile prototypes such as the Ruhrstahl X-4 . The US Navy and US Air Force began equipping guided missiles in 1956, deploying the USAF's AIM-4 Falcon and

9435-402: The same time, jamming the missile lock-on is easier because the launching aircraft is further from the target than the missile, so the radar signal has to travel further and is greatly attenuated over the distance. This means that the missile may be jammed or "spoofed" by countermeasures whose signals grow stronger as the missile gets closer. One counter to this is a "home on jam" capability in

9546-467: The second-generation short-range missiles allowed them to be used not just on non-maneuvering bombers, but also actively maneuvering fighters. Examples include advanced derivatives of the K-13 (missile) and AIM-9 such as K-13M ( R-13M , Object 380) or AIM-9D / G / H . This generation introduced much more sensitive seekers that are capable of locking onto the warm heat irradiated by the skins of aircraft from

9657-455: The ship's yaw, pitch, and roll. In this application, the inertial measurement unit (IMU) is equipped with three orthogonally mounted gyros to sense rotation about all axes in three-dimensional space. The gyro outputs are kept to a null through drive motors on each gimbal axis, to maintain the orientation of the IMU. To accomplish this, the gyro error signals are passed through " resolvers " mounted on

9768-409: The size of the radar antenna is limited by the small diameter of missiles, limiting its range which typically means such missiles are launched at a predicted future location of the target, often relying on separate guidance systems such as Global Positioning System , inertial guidance , or a mid-course update from either the launching aircraft or other system that can communicate with the missile to get

9879-412: The slewing of the optics through a search pattern to acquire the enemy (most likely using a rosette scan ), it also allowed the slaving of the optics to a radar or helmet sight. This was connected to the onboard computer of the aircraft, which gave the capability of capturing the target using the data coming from the airborne radar. This meant that the target could be locked without being in the sights, and

9990-410: The target increases the probability of a hit, the launching aircraft usually has to be closer to the target in such a tail-chase engagement . An aircraft can defend against infra-red missiles by dropping flares that are hotter than the aircraft, so the missile homes in on the brighter, hotter target. In turn, IR missiles may employ filters to enable it to ignore targets whose temperature is not within

10101-440: The target on a collision course. Although the missile may use radar or infra-red guidance to home on the target, the launching aircraft may detect and track the target before launch by other means. Infra-red guided missiles can be "slaved" to an attack radar in order to find the target and radar-guided missiles can be launched at targets detected visually or via an infra-red search and track (IRST) system, although they may require

10212-470: The target's flight path, which is much more efficient and makes the missile "lead" the target. During World War II , various researchers in Germany designed infrared guidance systems of various complexity. The most mature development of these, codenamed Hamburg , was intended for use by the Blohm & Voss BV 143 glide bomb in an anti-ship role. Hamburg used a single IR photocell as its detector along with

10323-446: The target. Also typical of the third generation of short-range missiles are further improved agility over the previous generation as well as their ability to radar-slave; which is acquiring tracking data from the launching aircraft's radar or IRST systems, allowing attackers to launch missiles without ever pointing the nose of the aircraft at an enemy prior to leading the missile. Examples of this generation of dogfight missiles include

10434-608: The thermal battery with a turbo-alternator. The AIM-9H also included a continuous-rod bundle warhead, improving its destructive capability. The AIM-9H was the last and most manoeuvrable of the rear-aspect USN Sidewinders, with USN moving to the all-aspect AIM-9L. The AIM-9H was actually used at the very end of the Vietnam war, with it being introduced into the US navy service in 1972 and being used in Operation Linebacker . A total of around 7,700 AIM-9H units would be manufactured from 1972-1974 by Philco-Ford and Raytheon. The AIM-9H

10545-498: The three gimbal rings to align with their pivot axes in a single plane. When this occurs, it is no longer possible to maintain the sensing platform's orientation. In spacecraft propulsion , rocket engines are generally mounted on a pair of gimbals to allow a single engine to vector thrust about both the pitch and yaw axes; or sometimes just one axis is provided per engine. To control roll, twin engines with differential pitch or yaw control signals are used to provide torque about

10656-451: The three gimbals, roll, pitch and yaw. These resolvers perform an automatic matrix transformation according to each gimbal angle, so that the required torques are delivered to the appropriate gimbal axis. The yaw torques must be resolved by roll and pitch transformations. The gimbal angle is never measured. Similar sensing platforms are used on aircraft. In inertial navigation systems, gimbal lock may occur when vehicle rotation causes two of

10767-403: The time the war ended. In the immediate post-war era, Allied military intelligence teams collected this information, along with many of the engineers working on these projects. Several lengthy reports on the various systems were produced and disseminated among the Western aircraft firms, while a number of the engineers joined these companies to work on various missile projects. By the late 1940s

10878-510: The use of the gimbal survived only in an Arabic translation of the early 9th century. Thus, as late as 1965, the sinologist Joseph Needham suspected Arab interpolation . However, Carra de Vaux, author of the French translation which still provides the basis for modern scholars, regards the Pneumatics as essentially genuine. The historian of technology George Sarton (1959) also asserts that it

10989-418: The vehicle's roll axis. Gimbals are also used to mount everything from small camera lenses to large photographic telescopes. In portable photography equipment, single-axis gimbal heads are used in order to allow a balanced movement for camera and lenses. This proves useful in wildlife photography as well as in any other case where very long and heavy telephoto lenses are adopted: a gimbal head rotates

11100-529: The walls. But to prevent the shipborne machinery from rolling around the deck in heavy seas, Athenaeus advises that "you must fix the pithêkion on the platform attached to the merchant-ships in the middle, so that the machine stays upright in any angle". After antiquity , gimbals remained widely known in the Near East . In the Latin West, reference to the device appeared again in the 9th century recipe book called

11211-506: The whole system with the lightest of touches on the gimbal. Powered by three brushless motors , motorized gimbals have the ability to keep the camera level on all axes as the camera operator moves the camera. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) responds to movement and utilizes its three separate motors to stabilize the camera. With the guidance of algorithms, the stabilizer is able to notice the difference between deliberate movement such as pans and tracking shots from unwanted shake. This allows

11322-497: Was a pre-production of the Sidewinder, first fired successfully in September 1953. Missile production began in 1955, and the first models entered the Navy's fleet service in 1956. Generally, it was a prototype production run, with 240 pieces being produced, and mainly intended for training pilots in air combat techniques. The AIM-9A was initially called the AAM-N-7 before the tri-service designation change in 1962. An interesting fact about

11433-453: Was added for the fuze, being the first in the world. This enhanced the missile's head sensitivity. Maneuverability was also improved with a faster tracking rate, as well as a new actuator system. The Sidewinder's range was improved as well, with the new Hercules MK 36 solid-fuel rocket motor allowing the missile to fly up to 18km. Finally, a new Mk 48 continuous-rod warhead was fitted to the missile for increased damage; this also meant infrared or

11544-432: Was famously the first Sidewinder variant to be fired in anger as on 24 September 1958, it achieved the world's first successful kill with a air-to-air missiles, when Taiwanese F-86Fs shot down Communist Chinese MiG-15s using AIM-9Bs supplied and fitted by the U.S. Navy (USN). RB24 : A Swedish AIM-9B Sidewinder. K-13/R-3 (AA-2) : The K-13/R-3 was a reversed engineered AIM-9B Sidewinder, A engagement on 28 September 1958 in

11655-518: Was first described by the Greek inventor Philo of Byzantium (280–220 BC). Philo described an eight-sided ink pot with an opening on each side, which can be turned so that while any face is on top, a pen can be dipped and inked — yet the ink never runs out through the holes of the other sides. This was done by the suspension of the inkwell at the center, which was mounted on a series of concentric metal rings so that it remained stationary no matter which way

11766-550: Was not present. There were 71 AIM-9E launch attempts from January to October 1972, however, only 6 missiles managed to down an aircraft, with 1 other hitting an aircraft, but not causing complete destruction. Reasons for the poor success rate was listed as "poor air crew training, launches out of the envelope, the tactical situation, marginal tone, tone discrimination, the missile going ballistic, and other malfunctions". AIM-9E : Standard production model. AIM-9E-2 : Some "E" models are equipped with reduced-smoke rocket motors and have

11877-514: Was stopped at 1,850 units, with the rest being ordered to AIM-9G seeker specifications instead. Around 2120 AIM-9G were built by Raytheon from 1970 to 1972. The AIM-9G would be used with its predecessor, the AIM-9D, during the Vietnam War, as the US Navy's choice of IR missile. A 46% hit rate with the AIM-9G during Operation Linebackers I and II in 1972 was achieved, of which 14 aircraft were MiG-17s and

11988-856: Was the basis for the all-aspect USAF/USN AIM-9L. ATM-9H : Was a training version of the AIM-9H for captive flight target acquisition. The AIM-9K was a planned U.S. Navy (USN) upgrade to the AIM-9H, but the development was abandoned in favour of USAF/USN joint AIM-9L. Air-to-air missile Air-to-air missiles are broadly put in two groups. Those designed to engage opposing aircraft at ranges of around 30 km to 40 km maximum are known as short-range or "within visual range" missiles (SRAAMs or WVRAAMs) and are sometimes called " dogfight " missiles because they are designed to optimize their agility rather than range. Most use infrared guidance and are called heat-seeking missiles. In contrast, medium- or long-range missiles (MRAAMs or LRAAMs), which both fall under

12099-491: Was the first version developed solely by the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The AIM-9E allows the expansion of the weapons acquisition envelope, especially at low-altitude, increasing its Probability of Kill (P[k]). It achieved this using a new low-drag conical nose head, being a distinguishing feature of USAF Sidewinders. A magnesium fluoride seeker dome was introduced, along with a more compact optical assembly, an improved guidance control system, new electronics, and significant changes to

12210-441: Was the first version to enter widespread production, in spite of a very long seeker settling time around 22 seconds, as opposed to 11 seconds for the original version. PL-2 : Chinese produced R-3S. A-91 : Romanian produced R-3S. K-13R/R-3R (Object 320) (AA-2B/C Atoll) : While the R-3S was being introduced in 1961, work started on a semi-active radar homing (SARH) version for high-altitude use, with 8 km range, similar to

12321-427: Was the only planned modification. Recognizing the limitations of the initial AIM-9B, the US Navy (USN) worked to improve the missile's performance. They changed the missile nose to an aerodynamical ogival nose. The seeker was improved with a wider field of view beyond 25 degrees and a reduced instantaneous field of view of 2.5 degrees, to reduce foreign thermal interference (from flares). A better nitrogen cooling system

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