VFAX for Naval Fighter Attack Experimental was actually two specifications for two US Navy fighter projects. The first was for a low cost lightweight complement for the General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B which could replace the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II for air superiority , escort, and ground attack missions in the early 1960s. This role was dropped in favor of the VFX aircraft, which emerged as the F-14 Tomcat . The second VFAX evolved when the VFX proved too costly to replace all existing USN fighters and attack aircraft, and the Navy was invited to take part in the USAFs Lightweight Fighter Program (LWF). The Navy chose the YF-17, the loser of the LWF contest as its Navy Air Combat Fighter , as it was inherently more suitable to naval operations than the winning General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon ; it was redesigned to become the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet .
95-667: VFAX was essentially the Navy counterpart to the Air Force's FX study which eventually led to the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. The F-111B had no rear visibility and was found to be too heavy and ungainly in a dogfight. It was not even slated to carry a simple gun or AIM-9 Sidewinder normally carried by air superiority fighters like the F-8 Crusader . Even the F-4 Phantom II did not achieve
190-584: 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 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
285-641: A fully forward wing at full afterburner. When accepted by the Navy after a competition, the VFAX and VFX would become the F-14 Tomcat , the first dedicated US Navy air superiority design since the F-8 Crusader. The F-14 would be tasked as the Navy's only primary air superiority fighter as well as FADF interceptor throughout its service life. Doctrine would strip the F-14 of any ground attack role until very late in its career, with
380-446: A gun for close-in fighting, and widely spaced engines for weapons carriage and survivability. Though as the first of a new generation of air superiority fighters, it would be criticized for not possessing the desired 1:1 combat thrust to weight ratio as was intended in the proposed upgraded F-14B and F-14C, it would prove to be competitive in training against a variety of competitors throughout its service life, especially at low speeds with
475-502: A late-1940s United States Navy program to develop a guided rocket weapon for air-to-air use. In 1947 the Navy contracted Sperry to build a beam-riding version of a standard 5-inch (127 mm) HVAR , the standard unguided aerial rocket, under Project Hotshot . The weapon was initially dubbed KAS-1 , then AAM-2 , and — from 1948 on — AAM-N-2 . The airframe was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company . The diameter of
570-642: A new and more powerful engine and new control surfaces. These control surfaces were each independent of the others, giving the missile greatly improved maneuverability over the AIM-7E and the English Skyflash that still used dependent control surfaces. The PL-11 and HQ-6 are a family of Chinese missiles developed by the Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology, largely based on the Italian Aspide version of
665-685: 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
760-480: A new rear receiver allowing the missile to receive mid-course correction from the launching aircraft. Plans initially called for all M versions to be upgraded, but currently P's are being issued as required to replace M's lost or removed from the inventory. The final version of the missile was to have been the AIM-7R , which added an infrared homing seeker to an otherwise unchanged AIM-7P Block II. A general wind-down of
855-531: A number of navies for air defense. Fired at low altitude and flying directly at its target, though, the range of the missile in this role is greatly reduced because of the higher air density of the lower atmosphere. With the retirement of the Sparrow in the air-to-air role, a new version of the Sea Sparrow was produced to address this concern, producing the larger and more capable RIM-162 ESSM . The Sparrow emerged from
950-481: 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"
1045-586: A second source for US missiles, Canadair was selected to build the missiles in Quebec . The small size of the missile forebody and the K-band AN/APQ-64-radar limited performance, and it was never able to work in testing. After considerable development and test firings in the U.S. and Canada, Douglas abandoned development in 1956. Canadair continued development until the Arrow was cancelled in 1959. A subvariant of
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#17328375889881140-636: 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 a solid rocket motor for propulsion, similar to most conventional missiles, a continuous-rod fragmentation warhead , and an infrared seeker . The seeker tracks
1235-664: 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 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
1330-464: Is not guided by the actual position recorded by the detector, but by the change in position since 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
1425-467: Is straightforward to implement and offers high-performance lead calculation almost for free and can respond to changes in 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
1520-535: The A-1 , A-4 and A-7 light attack, F-8 light, F-4 medium, and F-14 heavy fighters, RA-5C and RF-8 reconnaissance, KA-3 and KA-6 tankers, EA-6B jammers, and S-3 ASW aircraft, or just about all jet combat aircraft roles. AIM-9 Sidewinder 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
1615-535: The AAM-N-6b started production in 1963. The new motor significantly increased the maximum range to 35 kilometres (22 mi) for head-on attacks. This new missile also improved tail-on performance, with the AAM-N-6a being capable of firing on only targets with 300 ft/sec closing velocity, and AAM-N-6b being capable of firing on targets with a 300 knot opening velocity (-300 knot closing velocity or higher). During this year
1710-533: The Blohm & Voss BV 143 glide bomb in an anti-ship role. Hamburg used a single IR photocell as its detector along with 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,
1805-471: The McDonnell F3H-2M Demon and Vought F7U Cutlass fighter aircraft . Compared to the modern versions, the Sparrow I was more streamlined and featured a bullet-shaped airframe with a long pointed nose. Sparrow I was a limited and rather primitive weapon. The limitations of beam-riding guidance (which was slaved to an optical sight on single-seater fighters and to radar on night fighters) restricted
1900-582: 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 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
1995-522: The United States Air Force , United States Navy , United States Marine Corps , and various other air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile from the late 1950s until the 1990s. It remains in service, although it is being phased out in aviation applications in favor of the more advanced AIM-120 AMRAAM . The early Sparrow
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#17328375889882090-607: 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 the AIM-95 Agile and SRAAM that were intended to replace it. The Sidewinder is
2185-505: The 612 AIM-7D/E/E-2 missiles fired, 97 (or 15.8%) hit their targets, resulting in 56 (or 9.2%) kills. Two kills were obtained beyond visual range. In 1969, an improved version, the E-2, was introduced with clipped wings and various changes to the fuzing. Considered a "dogfight Sparrow", the AIM-7E-2 was intended to be used at shorter ranges where the missile was still travelling at high speeds, and in
2280-855: The AIM-7E2 technology in the 1970s, producing the Skyflash missile. Skyflash used a Marconi XJ521 monopulse seeker together with improvements to the electronics. It was powered by the Aerojet Mk52 mod 2 rocket engine (later by the Rocketdyne Mk38 mod 4). Skyflash entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) on their Phantom FG.1/FGR.2 in 1978, and later on the Tornado F3 . Skyflash was also exported to Sweden for use on their Viggen fighters. An upgraded version with active radar seeker, called Active Sky Flash ,
2375-507: 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 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
2470-711: 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: 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
2565-414: 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 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
2660-550: 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
2755-561: The Air Force and Navy agreed on standardized naming conventions for their missiles. The Sparrows became the AIM-7 series. The original Sparrow I and aborted Sparrow II became the AIM-7A and AIM-7B , despite both being out of service. The -6, -6a, and -6b became the AIM-7C , AIM-7D , and AIM-7E respectively. 25,000 AIM-7Es were produced and saw extensive use during the Vietnam War , where its performance
2850-399: 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 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
2945-581: The Arrow. The Italian company Finmeccanica (now Leonardo S.p.A. ), Alenia Difesa licensed the AIM-7E Sparrow technology from the US, and produced its own version. Later in the 1980s, Alenia started to produce an improved version of the AIM-7 called the Aspide. Compared to the AIM-7E, it received an improved new monopulse guidance system that allowed for a better hit ratio and easier targeting of enemies at low altitude with ground-clutter confusion. It also received
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3040-489: 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 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
3135-562: The F-111B into an agile airframe with the same tried and proved components of the A-6 Intruder , such as the landing gear and primary attitude reference. It would have to be capable of defeating the Soviet MiG-17 'Fresco' and MiG-19 'Farmer' fighters encountered by Navy pilots after 1965 over Vietnam. After 1967, it would also have to defeat the next generation Soviet fighters as well. By 1966,
3230-518: The HVAR proved to be inadequate for the electronics, leading Douglas to expand the missile's airframe to 8-inch (203 mm) diameter. The prototype weapon began unpowered flight tests in 1947, and made its first aerial interception in 1952. After a protracted development cycle the initial AAM-N-2 Sparrow entered limited operational service in 1954 with specially modified Douglas F3D Skyknight all-weather carrier night fighters. In 1956, they were joined by
3325-610: The Italian firm Alenia to develop advanced versions of Sparrow with better performance and improved electronics as the BAe Skyflash and Alenia Aspide , respectively. The most common version of the Sparrow today, the AIM-7M , entered service in 1982 and featured a new inverse monopulse seeker (matching the capabilities of Skyflash), active radar proximity fuse , digital controls, improved ECM resistance, and better low-altitude performance. It
3420-539: The M model (for monopulse) and some of these were later updated as the P model, the last to be produced in the US. Aspides sold to China resulted in the locally produced PL-11 . The Japan Self-Defense Forces also employ the Sparrow missile, though it is being phased out and replaced by the Mitsubishi AAM-4 . The Sparrow was also used as the basis for a surface-to-air missile , the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow , used by
3515-519: The Navy had been persuaded that a single VFAX could meet the specification if it were large enough to carry the AWG-9/Phoenix weapons system. The VFAX was quickly dropped in favor of a hastily rewritten VFX specification which was largely built around the 303. The VFX, it was thought, was a better and cheaper alternative to a fleet of F-111B FADF (fleet air defence) dedicated interceptors and lighter fighter bombers. Needless to say, this greatly accelerated
3610-482: 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
3705-657: The Navy studied a swing wing version of the Air Force F-22, they opted not to develop a direct replacement of the F-14 Tomcat. The fire and forget capability of the new AMRAAM missile would give the Super Hornet much of the capability of the powerful, but old AIM-54 Phoenix system. Together with the F/A-18A and the anticipated retirement of other aircraft types, Hornets and Super Hornets will take on roles of aircraft since Vietnam of
3800-532: The Sparrow I armed with the same nuclear warhead as the MB-1 Genie was proposed in 1958 but was cancelled shortly thereafter. Concurrently with the development of the Sparrow I, in 1951 Raytheon began work on a semi-active radar-homing version, the AAM-N-6 Sparrow III . The first of these weapons entered United States Navy service in 1958. The AAM-N-6a was similar to the -6, and included changes to
3895-455: The Sparrow II (AAM-N-3/AIM-7B). After Douglas dropped out of this program, Canadair continued on with it until the termination of the Arrow project. The AAM-N-3 Sparrow II was unique in that it had a fully active radar guidance system. This combined both a radar transmitter and receiver in the missile, making it unnecessary for the pilot to keep the aircraft aimed at the target after firing
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3990-556: The Sparrow II a "fire and forget" weapon, allowing several to be fired at separate targets at the same time. By 1955, Douglas proposed going ahead with development, intending it to be the primary weapon for the F5D Skylancer interceptor . It was later selected, with some controversy, to be the primary weapon for the Canadian Avro Arrow supersonic interceptor, along with the new Astra fire-control system. For Canadian use and as
4085-620: The Sparrow missile. The Soviet Union acquired an AIM-7 in 1968 and a Vympel team started copying it as the K-25 . The missile did not enter production as the R-23 was thought to have better versatility, range, signal processing logic, and immunity to interference. K-25 work ended in 1971, but analysis of the Sparrow was later used to inform the design of the Vympel R-27 , particularly the servomechanisms and movable wings. British Aerospace (BAe) licensed
4180-478: The Sparrow use semi-active radar homing . To accommodate the active radar guidance system, the AAM-N-3 Sparrow II had a much greater volume than its predecessor. Its size would subsequently set the precedent for all future Sparrow variants. In 1959, Canadair had completed five missiles based on airframes from Douglas, and built two models from scratch, when the program was cancelled with the cancellation of
4275-476: 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 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
4370-473: The budget led to it being cancelled in 1997. The U.S. Navy planned to operate the missile through 2018. The Sparrow is now being phased out with the availability of the active-radar AIM-120 AMRAAM , but is likely to remain in service for several years. As part of the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow program, Canadair (now Bombardier ) partnered with Douglas Aircraft Company in the development of
4465-609: 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,
4560-573: The early 1970s, the RAF developed the Skyflash version with an inverse monopulse seeker and improved motor, while the Italian Air Force introduced the similar Aspide . Both could be fired at targets below the launching fighter (" look-down, shoot-down "), were more resistant to countermeasures, and were much more accurate in the terminal phase. This basic concept then became part of the US Sparrows in
4655-573: 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 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
4750-415: The enemy fighter would often approach within the range of shorter-range infrared homing missiles while the launching aircraft had to continue flying towards its target. Additionally, early models were only effective against targets at roughly the same or higher altitudes, below which reflections from the ground became a problem. A number of upgraded Sparrow designs were developed to address these issues. In
4845-448: The fighter wouldn't get until the 1990s). The VFAX would later be folded into the USAF LWF lightweight fighter competition. The Navy would choose the loser of the USAF competition, the YF-17 . It was the product of a long evolution of the Northrop Cobra project, which was a radical redesign that used the wings and nose of the tiny F-5 Freedom Fighter as a design starting point. Attracted by the safety and growth potential of two engines, it
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#17328375889884940-445: The fuzing, and the E-4 featured a modified seeker for use with the F-14 Tomcat . Improved versions of the AIM-7 were developed in the 1970s in an attempt to address the weapon's limitations. The AIM-7F , which entered service in 1976, had a dual-stage rocket motor for longer range, solid-state electronics for greatly improved reliability, and a larger warhead. Even this version had room for improvement, leading British Aerospace and
5035-407: 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 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
5130-457: The guidance electronics to make it effective at higher closing speeds. It was originally designed to take the Thiokol LR44-RM-2 liquid-fuel rocket motor, but the decision was made to retain the solid fuel rocket motor. The -6a was also selected to arm the Air Force's F-110A Spectre ( F-4 Phantom ) fighters in 1962, known to them as the AIM-101 . It entered production in 1959, with 7500 being built. With an improved Rocketdyne solid-fuel motor,
5225-462: The head-on aspect, making it much more useful in the visual limitations imposed on the engagements. Even so, its kill rate was only 13% in combat, leading to a practice of ripple-firing all four at once in hopes of increasing kill probability. Its worst tendency was to detonate prematurely about 1,000 feet ahead of the launching aircraft, but it also had many motor failures, erratic flights, and fuzing problems. An E-3 version included additional changes to
5320-419: The internal components of newer missiles represent major improvements, with vastly increased capabilities. The warhead is of the continuous-rod type. As with other semi-active radar guided missiles, the missile does not generate radar signals, but instead homes in on reflected continuous-wave signals from the launch platform's radar. The receiver also senses the guidance radar to enable comparisons that enhance
5415-423: 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
5510-406: The late 1940s 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
5605-488: The launcher, which 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
5700-422: 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
5795-433: The missile to attacks against targets flying a straight course and made it essentially useless against a maneuvering target. Only about 2,000 rounds were produced to this standard. As early as 1950, Douglas examined equipping the Sparrow with an active radar seeker, initially known as XAAM-N-2a Sparrow II , the original retroactively becoming Sparrow I . In 1952, it was given the new code AAM-N-3 . The active radar made
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#17328375889885890-427: The missile's resistance to passive jamming. The launching aircraft illuminates the target with its radar. In 1950s radars, these were single-target tracking devices using a nutating horn as part of the antenna, thereby sweeping the beam in a small cone. Signal processing is applied to determine the direction of maximum illumination, thereby developing a signal to steer the antenna toward the target. The missile detects
5985-453: The missile, unlike Semi-active radar homing (SARH) missiles which require continuous radar-assisted guidance throughout flight. This allowed the aircraft that fired the AAM-N-3 to turn away, prosecute other targets, and/or escape from potential retaliatory missiles fired by the enemy aircraft during the time it took for the Sparrow to reach its target. Despite the significant advantages of this design over SARH guidance, all subsequent models of
6080-430: 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, the brevity code " Fox two " is used when firing the AIM-9. Originally a tail-chasing system, early models saw extensive use during
6175-490: 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 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
6270-425: The need to cancel the now superfluous F-111B. When the final classifications of the VAFX/VFX was released it was composed of the following, with Air Superiority (Visual maneuvering close combat) as the first priority, ahead of FADF. In order to avoid being forced to accept the F-X specification then being developed by the USAF, the Navy insisted on an airplane uncompromised by the air superiority requirements. This
6365-458: 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
6460-460: 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 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
6555-399: 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
6650-414: The primary air superiority role, along with most other jet combat, EW and tanker support types. Dogged by complaints that the F-18 lacked "legs" or range, the Navy later opted for the F/A-18E/F to replace the A-12 Avenger , which in turn was meant to replace the A-6 Intruder. While there were no precise reasons, the Navy and the Secretary of Defense opted to buy no more new Tomcats or its variants. While
6745-415: The retirement of the A-6 Intruder and Air Force deployment of the similar F-15E Strike Eagle . VFAX was revived in the 1970s when it was realized that although the F-14 was smaller than the F-111B, it was still a very large plane. It was a very expensive to replace all of the attack fighters and USMC F-4 Phantom IIs , which had passed on the Tomcat's cost and initial lack of ground attack capability (which
6840-623: 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 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
6935-580: 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 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
7030-413: 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
7125-470: The success that the US enjoyed over Korean MiGs. It was thought that a mix of F-111B and lighter advanced fighter bombers could handle all anticipated threats in close and long range combat. As a company project, Grumman was well aware of the limitations of the F-111B, but their approach to the VFAX was the Grumman 303 design. It essentially transplanted the engines and AWG-9 / AIM-54 Phoenix weapons system of
7220-421: 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 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,
7315-420: The target was when it was fired. If 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
7410-609: 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
7505-444: 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 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
7600-504: The work of mating them to a missile had not been carried out by 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
7695-492: 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 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
7790-537: Was able to create a design in which the FDAF and AS requirements did not significantly compromise each other. The F-14 would use a wing sweep program to optimize lift and drag at all combat speeds, twin tails for stability, greatly reduced weight through extensive use of titanium to achieve a better thrust to weight ratio than the F-4, a pancake fuselage for increased lift, a raised tandem cockpit for reduced drag and increased visibility,
7885-407: Was actually a code phrase which meant retaining the primary FADF capability of the relatively heavy Phoenix missile. If the F-14 was created to shoot down bombers, and it was not optimized for maneuvering air combat as the primary design goal, it has even been suggested that the F-14's extraordinary maneuverability is due to the accident of a low approach speed requirement. However, the Grumman design
7980-453: 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
8075-596: 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 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
8170-422: Was considered disappointing. The mixed results were a combination of reliability problems (exacerbated by the tropical climate), limited pilot training in fighter-to-fighter combat, and restrictive rules of engagement that generally prohibited BVR (beyond visual range) engagements. The P k (kill probability) of the AIM-7E was less than 10%; US fighter pilots shot down 59 aircraft out of the 612 Sparrows fired. Of
8265-593: Was developed into the F/A-18 Hornet as the low end of a high low mix. Like the F-4 Phantom II, it would have conformal carriage for the radar guided AIM-7 Sparrow (and later AMRAAM ) missiles. In the 1990s, the original Cobra design would be stretched yet again into the heavier Super Hornet. The F/A-18E/F would be deemed by 2006 to have enough capability to replace its senior stablemate, the VFX F-14 Tomcat in
8360-425: Was intended primarily for use against larger targets, especially bombers, and had numerous operational limitations in other uses. Against smaller targets, the need to receive a strong reflected radar signal made it difficult to achieve lock-on at the missile's effective range. As the launching aircraft's own radar needed to be pointed at the target throughout the engagement, this meant that in fighter-vs-fighter combat
8455-550: 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
8550-541: Was proposed by BAe and Thomson-CSF , but did not receive funding because the RAF opted for other missiles. The Sparrow has four major sections: guidance section, warhead , control, and rocket motor (currently the Hercules MK-58 solid-propellant rocket motor). It has a cylindrical body with four wings at mid-body and four tail fins. Although the external dimensions of the Sparrow remained relatively unchanged from model to model,
8645-564: 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
8740-482: 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. AIM-7 Sparrow The AIM-7 Sparrow (Air Intercept Missile ) is an American medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by
8835-491: 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
8930-428: 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
9025-463: Was used to good advantage in the 1991 Gulf War , where it scored many USAF air-to-air kills. Of 44 missiles fired, 30 (68.2%) hit their intended targets resulting in 24/26 (54.5%/59.1%) kills. 19 kills were obtained beyond visual range. The AIM-7P is similar in most ways to the M versions, and was primarily an upgrade for existing M-series missiles. Changes were mainly to the software, improving low-level performance. A follow-on Block II upgrade added
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