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82-413: In the 1960s, both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy were in the process of acquiring large, heavy fighters designed primarily to fight with air-to-air missiles . Project Forecast, a 1963 Air Force attempt to identify future weapons trends, stated that a counter-air defense must be able to destroy aircraft at long ranges using advanced weapon systems. The Air Force felt that these needs would be filled for

164-671: 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

246-451: 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

328-403: A conventional construction. Like the wings, the leading and trailing edges were constructed of composite facesheets over honeycomb core. A composite speedbrake was located on top of the fuselage between the engines. The aircraft was powered by two 14,400-pound-force (64 kN) General Electric YJ101-GE-100 afterburning turbojets, installed next to each other to minimize thrust asymmetry in

410-563: A heavy swing-wing from the design, lowering the gross weight from 60,000+ pounds to slightly below 40,000, and decreasing the top speed from Mach 2.7 to 2.3–2.5. The result was the F-15 Eagle , an aircraft that was far superior in maneuverability to the F-111 fighter variants. The Air Force had also been studying a lighter day fighter . Starting in 1965, the Air Force had pursued a low-priority study of

492-605: 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

574-576: 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

656-595: A participant in the LWF program. In August 1974, Congress directed the Navy to make maximum use of the technology and hardware of the LWF for its new lightweight strike fighter, the VFAX . As neither contractor had experience with naval fighters, they sought partners to provide that expertise. General Dynamics teamed with Vought for the Vought Model 1600 ; Northrop with McDonnell Douglas for

738-411: 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

820-463: A simple ranging-radar. The cockpit had an ejection seat inclined at 18°, a bubble canopy , and a head-up display (HUD). The thin wings carried no fuel, and in areas such as the leading and trailing edge and the LERX, were composed of a Nomex honeycomb core with composite facesheets. The rear of the aircraft had twin all-moving stabilators of aluminum over a honeycomb core, and twin vertical stabilizers of

902-580: A single vertical stabilizer was insufficient at high angles of attack, and it was changed to twin vertical stabilizers , canted at 45°, resulting in a "relaxed longitudinal stability" design, which enhances maneuverability. Northrop was not yet confident in fly-by-wire controls and retained mechanically actuated flight controls. The resulting aircraft, unveiled on 28 January 1971, had a maximum weight of 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) and maximum speed of Mach  2, but stirred little interest among foreign buyers. The first prototype ( serial number 72-1569 )

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984-464: A single-engine design. However, production F-16s lacked supercruise capability as the Air Force saddled the F-16 with multi-mission equipment, air-to-ground features, and an active radar. Whereas the prototype YF-16 "whipped" other airplanes in dogfights, the production version was less maneuverable and performed worse in air-to-air combat. Hillaker, the F-16's chief designer, commented: "If I had realized at

1066-717: A small and lightweight fighter, was scaled up to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet , which is similar in size and weight to the F-15 and ultimately replaced the F-14. A non-naval, export variant developed and marketed by Northrop, the F-18L failed to attract buyers; nevertheless, many air forces have operated the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 as a purely land-based fighter. The aircraft's main design elements date to early 1965, from

1148-407: 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

1230-558: 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

1312-514: A twin-engine versus single-engine fighter and strike aircraft. As the Fighter Mafia attracted considerable controversy, the actual extent of their contribution to U.S. fighter design is a matter of debate. The F-15 was the first jet plane in the USAF's history that was designed with maneuverability specifications in mind thanks to Boyd's E-M theory. The Fighter Mafia argued for a bubble canopy (found in

1394-477: A very small 0.25:1 bypass ratio leading to the nickname "leaky turbojet". The bypass air was required for cooling the afterburner and nozzle and the cool bypass duct surface allowed the engine bay to be constructed of lighter, cheaper materials. The P-530 wing planform and nose section were similar to the F-5, with a trapezoidal shape formed by a sweep of 20° at the quarter-chord line, and an unswept trailing edge , but

1476-576: A wide variety of other problems conspired to make air-to-air combat devolve into dogfights far more often than U.S. air combat tacticians had envisioned. In spite of a huge technical superiority on paper and some very successful beyond-visual-range missile aces, the F-4s found themselves fighting at close quarters with the Soviet-designed MiG-21 , and losing the fight more often than expected. Heavy and poorly maneuverable fighters originally imagined by

1558-1001: Is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles ). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors , usually solid fueled but sometimes liquid fueled . Ramjet engines, as used on the Meteor , are emerging as propulsion that will enable future medium- to long-range missiles to maintain higher average speed across their engagement envelope. 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

1640-456: 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,

1722-577: 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

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1804-589: 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

1886-489: 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

1968-414: 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

2050-512: 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

2132-528: 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

2214-665: 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

2296-837: The N-102 Fang in 1956, continuing through the F-5 family. Although it lost the LWF competition to the F-16 Fighting Falcon , the YF-17 was selected for the new Naval Fighter Attack Experimental ( VFAX ) program. In enlarged form, the F/A-18 Hornet was adopted by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps to replace the A-7 Corsair II and F-4 Phantom II , complementing the more expensive F-14 Tomcat . This design, conceived as

2378-446: 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

2460-577: The " Bomber Mafia ", theorists at the Air Corps Tactical School in the 1930s whose ideas led to the primacy of heavy bomber aircraft performing strategic bombing over that of fighter (whose acolytes still occupied the upper command positions of the Air Force), and dubbed himself the "godfather". Their assertions included: In 1969, under the guise that the Navy was developing a small, high-performance Navy aircraft, Riccioni won $ 149,000 to fund

2542-472: The "Red Bird" concept, that is a design that would lower weight by stripping the plane of extraneous equipment such as active radar . They wanted to lower the top speed of the plane to Mach 1.6 since the variable-geometry intake necessary for higher speeds imposed a weight penalty on the plane. The lower top speed trade-off would allow the Red Bird to excel everywhere else: cost, range and maneuverability. Top speed

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2624-506: The "Study to Validate the Integration of Advanced Energy-Maneuverability Theory with Trade-Off Analysis". This money was split between Northrop and General Dynamics to build the embodiment of Boyd's E-M theory – a small, low-drag, low-weight, pure air-to-air fighter with no bomb racks. Northrop demanded and received $ 100,000 to design the YF-17 ; General Dynamics, eager to redeem its debacle with

2706-492: 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

2788-790: The Advanced Day Fighter (ADF), a 25,000-pound design. After they learned of the MiG-25 in 1967, the ADF was dropped in order to urgently focus work on the F-15. The F-15, originally a lighter aircraft, grew in size and weight as it attempted to match the inflated performance estimates of the MiG-25. While Boyd's contributions to the F-15 were significant, he felt that it was still a compromise. Boyd, defense analysts Jacob Ramirez, Tom Christie , Matt Gorr, Reno Kneevers, and Chuck Myers , test pilot Col. Everest Riccioni and aeronautical engineer Harry Hillaker formed

2870-521: The F-111, received the remainder to develop Hillaker's own YF-16 . In the summer of 1971, deputy defense secretary David Packard announced a budget of $ 200 million to be spent on prototypes from all the services branches. Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and his deputy David Packard had entered office with the Nixon administration in 1969 and were tasked with whipping the military purchasing system into shape. This

2952-414: The F-15 and F-16) since it would allow the pilot more visibility to avoid being surprised, or to have better situational awareness in dogfights. However, not all of the Fighter Mafia's ideas were implemented. The Fighter Mafia's preference was for an aircraft dedicated to air superiority rather than a multi-role fighter . The motto was "not a pound for air-to-ground ". The Mafia promoted what they called

3034-705: The F-35 from surviving members of the Fighter Mafia (and defense reform movement) is thus unfounded. The Fighter Mafia have been criticized for their lack of combat experience and aeronautical expertise. Only Boyd had brief air combat experience (in the Korean War ) and did not achieve any kills as a fighter pilot. Riccioni had seen no combat before he was assigned to the Pentagon. Sprey has been characterized as "a dilettante with an engineering degree but no military experience". Air-to-air missile An air-to-air missile ( AAM )

3116-465: The F-X program would be even worse off in these situations. Boyd's work with energy–maneuverability theory (E-M) modeling, enabling quantitative comparison of the performance of aircraft in terms of air combat maneuvering in the context of dogfighting , demonstrated that the F-111 would be poorly suited to the role of fighter. The Air Force F-X proposal was quietly rewritten to reflect his findings, dropping

3198-619: The Fighter Mafia included no radar, no sophisticated avionics , and was armed only with a cannon and infrared homing missiles. By comparison, the F-16 includes sophisticated avionics systems, AN/APG-66 radar, as well as AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles. Proponents of the F-35 argue that fourth-generation fighters like the F-15 and F-16 will fare poorly in a "high-threat" environment because they lack stealth technology and other advanced fifth-generation fighter features (such as sensor fusion ). They argue that criticism of

3280-488: 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

3362-475: The Mafia's civilian associate member Pierre Sprey argued that sneaking up on an unaware opponent was the most important criterion of a good fighter, the LWF's small size would also make it less visible to the eye. A faster supersonic cruising speed would make it more difficult for enemies to sneak up from behind. While conventional wisdom at the time considered twin engines to be safer, the F-16 challenged that view with

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3444-530: 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

3526-625: 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

3608-487: The USAF Enhanced Tactical Fighter competition to a new F-15 model, the 15-hardpoint F-15E Strike Eagle , in part due to the latter's lower cost and twin engines. Critics argue that the F-15 and F-16 succeeded because they moved away from the Fighter Mafia's ideas, seeing significant export success because they were multi-role aircraft with active radar homing missiles. The "Red Bird" concept designed by

3690-527: 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

3772-463: The YF-17 competed against the General Dynamics YF-16 . The two YF-17 prototypes flew 288 test flights, totaling 345.5 hours. The YF-17 attained a top speed of Mach 1.95, a peak load factor of 9.4 g , and a maximum altitude of over 50,000 ft (15,000 m). It demonstrated a maximum angle of attack of 68 degrees at 28 kn IAS. Initially, the U.S. Navy was not heavily involved as

3854-683: 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

3936-657: 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,

4018-509: The cannon moved from the underside of the fuselage, to the upper part. Design of the YF-17 and the prototype YJ101 engine, a development of the GE15 engine, consumed over a million man-hours, and 5,000 hours of wind tunnel testing. The YF-17 was primarily constructed of aluminum , in conventional semi- monocoque stressed-skin construction, though over 900 lb (408 kg) of its structure comprised graphite/epoxy composite. The small nose contained

4100-424: 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

4182-426: The core of the "Fighter Mafia" which worked behind the scenes in the late 1960s to pursue a lightweight fighter as an alternative to the F-15. The group strongly believed that an ideal fighter should not include any of the radar-guided missile systems, active radar or rudimentary ground-attack capability that found their way into the F-15. Riccioni coined the nickname, a joke on his Italian heritage that harkened back to

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4264-545: 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

4346-574: The engines at high angles of attack. The resemblance to the head of a cobra led to the adoption of the nickname "Cobra" for the P-530. When the Lightweight Fighter program was announced in 1971, Northrop modified the P-530 into the P-600 design that would be designated YF-17A. Whereas the P-530 was intended as a multi-role aircraft, the P-600 was to be strictly an air-to-air demonstrator, and consequently

4428-420: The event of an engine failure. To minimise engine removal time they were removed from below the aircraft without disturbing the empennage controls. Each engine drove an hydraulic pump for independent aircraft systems. Unlike the P-530, the YF-17 had partial fly-by-wire, called an electronic control augmentation system (ECAS), which used ailerons, rudders, and stabilators for primary flight control. Studies showed

4510-414: 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

4592-422: 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

4674-488: 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

4756-426: 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

4838-526: The internal Northrop project N-300. The N-300 was derived from the F-5E , and features a longer fuselage, small leading-edge root extensions (LERX), and more powerful GE15-J1A1 turbojets , rated at 9,000  lbf (40 kN). The wing position was raised slightly to increase ground clearance for ordnance. The N-300 further evolved into the P-530 Cobra, which uses 13,000 lbf (58 kN) GE15-J1A5 engines, with

4920-417: 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

5002-482: 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

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5084-500: 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

5166-408: 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,

5248-403: 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

5330-405: 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

5412-416: 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. YF-17 The Northrop YF-17 (nicknamed "Cobra" )

5494-640: The next twenty years by missile-armed variants of the F-111 Aardvark and F-4 Phantom II with no gun. Their F-X Program fighter acquisition program, initially merged into the TFX Program (which developed the F-111), was written along those lines. Combat during the Vietnam War demonstrated that the entire " Missileer " concept was not ready for real combat conditions. Restrictive rules of engagement (ROE), limitations in communications ( IFF ), unreliable missiles and

5576-476: 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

5658-503: 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

5740-402: 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

5822-467: 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

5904-409: 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

5986-410: 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

6068-440: 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

6150-446: 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

6232-498: The time that the airplane would have been used as a multimission, primarily an air-to-surface airplane as it is used now, I would have designed it differently." Hillaker later did design a dedicated air-to-ground oriented, 17- hardpoint YF-16 derivative, dubbed the F-16XL , that also greatly outperformed both the YF-16 and the production F-16 in fields such as range and speed. However, it lost in

6314-480: Was a prototype lightweight fighter aircraft designed by Northrop aviation for the United States Air Force 's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program. The LWF was initiated because many in the fighter community believed that aircraft like the F-15 Eagle were too large and expensive for many combat roles. The YF-17 was the culmination of a long line of Northrop designs, beginning with

6396-454: Was in response to Senator William Proxmire issuing reports critical of the high costs of the F-15 and F-14 . Packard was interested in the idea of prototyping weapons before sending them into production, given issues stemming from McNamara 's "Total Package Procurement Concept" where analysis and quantification was done on paper. The 1972 fiscal year budget assigned $ 12 million for Lightweight Fighter prototypes . On January 6, 1971, an RFP

6478-440: Was issued to industry for a 20,000-pound fighter to complement the F-15. In the resulting fighter competition, the USAF would select the YF-16 over the YF-17. The F-16 would become a versatile, multi-role fighter. However, the losing aircraft, the YF-17, would go on to provide the basis for the subsequent development and acquisition of the aircraft carrier-capable F/A-18 Hornet for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps that preferred

6560-532: Was over double the area, with 400 sq ft (37 m ) as opposed to 186 sq ft (17.3 m ) of the F-5E. Initially shoulder mounted, the wings were lowered to the mid position. Its most distinctive new feature were the LERXs that tapered into the fuselage under the cockpit. They added about 50% additional lift at angles of attack exceeding 50°, improving maneuvering. The extensions also aligned airflow into

6642-425: Was relatively less important since warplanes spent very little time at their highest speeds: dogfighting is done at subsonic speeds and the time leading up to a dogfight is often done at cruising speeds . In light of the Mafia's disappointment with the F-15, the lightweight fighter was supposed to be the air-to-air superiority fighter that they wanted. Compared to the Red Bird concept, the LWF would cost even less. As

6724-495: Was rolled out at Hawthorne on 4 April 1974; its first flight at Edwards AFB came on 9 June with Henry "Hank" Chouteau at the controls flying for 61 minutes reaching an altitude of 18,000 feet and a maximum speed of 610 miles per hour. Chouteau afterwards remarked that, "When our designers said that in the YF-17 they were going to give the airplane back to the pilot, they meant it. It's a fighter pilot's fighter." The second YF-17 (s/n 72-1570 ) first flew on 21 August. Through 1974,

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