Air-to-Air Missiles

AIM-9 Sidewinder

Sidewinder has established itself as one of the best-known missiles in the world. Originally designed by the US Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, it is produced by Ford Aerospace & Raytheon. The Sidewinder has been produced in massive numbers; 80,900 AIM-9Bs were produced. The Sidewinder has over 10 variants, each having a different seeker head & range.

Sidewinders have been used in practically every air-war since they entered service in 1956?, & were used in the Falklands & the Gulf. The Sidewinder has met massive success in the export market as well, in service with all of NATO, most of South America & Asia, & the Middle East. Despite its success, the Sidewinder was quite simple, with ‘fewer electronic components than the average radio’. Its simplicity did have a great advantage, however. It was cheap. This made it available to many developing countries who bought the missile, ensuring it export success.

AIM-7 Sparrow

The AIM-7 Sparrow has been produced in three different families, each family being fundamentally different, & manufactured by a different company. The AIM-7 has also been manufactured as an ASM (Shrike) & a SAM (Sea Sparrow).

The AIM-7 is considerably larger than most other Western AAMs, & is in service with most NATO nations. Sperry Gyroscope began Project Hot Shot in 1946 under US Navy BuAer contract. By 1951, Sperry Gyroscope had secured a contract for full engineering development of the XAAM-N-2 Sparrow I. This was a radar beam riding missile with a range of 8km (5 miles) which was 3.56m (140in) long & had a launch weight of 141kg (310lb). The XAAM-N-2 Sparrow's first flight took place in 1953, & the missile itself had flush dipole aerials around its body, which received signals from the fighter's radar, which was assumed to be locked on to the target. Around 2,000 AIM-7As (as they were renamed the 60s) were manufactured at the Sperry-Farragut Division which operated a Naval Industrial Reserve plant at Bristol, Tennessee. The Sparrow I reached operational service in July 1956, & served with the US Navy's Atlantic & Pacific fleets & the US Marine Corps.

In 1955, Douglas obtained funding for the Sparrow II (AIM-7B or AAM-N-3) to equip the F5D-1 Skylancer as its main armament, & made the decision to switch the missile's guidance to active radar homing. The Sparrow II was cancelled by the US Navy, but was rescued by the Royal Canadian Air Force as an armament for the Avro Canada Arrow. The Arrow was cancelled, however, & the sparrow was again cancelled.

Five other variants followed; the AIM-7E (AAM-N-6B), the AIM-7F & the AIM-7M were manufactured by Raytheon, GD Pomona (AIM-7F & AIM-7M only) & licence manufactured by Mitsubishi (AIM-7F only). 25,000 AIM-7Es, 3,000 AIM-7Fs & over 1,800 AIM-7Ms have been produced. Other Sparrow AAMs include the Sparrow III (AIM-7C or AAM-N-6) & the AIM-101 (AIM-7D or AAM-N-6A).

ASRAAM

ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is a highly manoeuvreable air combat missile capable of engaging modern agile aircraft. It was developed as a replacement for the AIM-9 Sidewinder AAM (after the British SRAAM project failed) by BAe Dynamics of the UK & BGT of Germany, & has advantages over the Sidewinder such as smaller size, greater manoevrability & lower weight, allowing the missile to destroy highly agile targets. Three missiles (maximum) can be carried on a launcher. The ASRAAM has an advanced high-sensitivity infra-red seeker which can lock on to target before or after launch, giving the pilot of the launch aircraft a fire-&-forget capability. The ASRAAM is highly resistant to modern advanced ECM equipment, & will be carried by the Harrier GR.7 & Eurofighter Typhoon when it enters service.

AIM-120 AMRAAM

Firestreak

Originally codenamed Blue Jay, Firestreak was the first British guided AAM to reach IOC in 1958. One of the two AAMs to be fitted on the Lightning, dH Propellers began development of the Firestreak in 1951, being assisted by the RAE, RRE & RARDE. The IR-guided Firestreak was first fired in 1954, & a pre-production Firestreak was fired from a Venom in 1955 at a Firefly U.9. About 100 rounds were fired by Avon-Sabres at the WRE against Jindivik Target Drones from 1955 onwards, until the missile entered production in 1958 as the Firestreak Mk.1. Firestreak Mk.1s entered service with the Fleet Air Arm's Sea Venoms (No.893 Sqn) & Javelin FAW.7s of the RAF (No.33 Sqn) in 1958. Various sub-types entered service with the Fleet Air Arm & RAF before the Firestreak was exported to Saudi Arabia & Kuwait. Several thousand Firestreak AAMs were produced by 1969, the majority equipping Lightnings of various air forces. Saudi Arabia was the last country to operate the Firestreak with English Electric (BAC) Lightnings, now superceded by the Panavia Tornado ADV in RSAF service.

Red Top

The Red Top was developed from the Firestreak, & was originally named Firestreak Mk IV. This was basically a Firestreak with rearranged equipment & a new seeker head, motor & warhead. Built to a basic requirement issued in 1956 for missiles with improved IR seekers able to home into an aircraft's jet or other hot parts of the aircraft, the Red Top project was highly classified; the details of the seeker of Red Top are still classified today. Development & trials of the Red Top went without any serious problems, & the missile entered service in late 1964 with Lightnings of the RAF's No.74 Squadron. The missile entered service with the Fleet Air Arm at the same time, this time equipping Sea Vixen FAW.2s of No.899 Squadron.

Red Top had an untapered body to accommodate a larger warhead, a full-diameter glass hemisphere nose & a speed of up to Mach 3.2 at burnout. The Red Top had perhaps the most advanced IR fuzing system of any AAM of the late 1950s. Red Top was fitted to hardpoints forward of the wings, & up to two could be carried. Only the RAF, Fleet Air Arm & Royal Saudi Air Force ever used the missile, & the RAF's last missiles were retired with its Lightnings in the late 1980s.

BAe Dynamics Sky Flash

Sky Flash (originally XJ.521) is a British development of the American AIM-7E2 Sparrow, & is the Tornado ADV's primary weapon. Trials of the missile were carried-out at Point Mugu, the missiles being fired from American F-4J Phantoms. The missile was put through a grueling series of tests, but performed exceptionally well, hitting over half of the targets directly, & coming within lethal range on the remainder. The miss distance was described as "about one-tenth that of most radar-guided AAMs," & the missile trials were the most successful of any missile ever. The Sky Flash's incredible accuracy, advanced seeker head & Mach 4 velocity lead to the missile being procured by the RAF. The Swedish Air Force also took an interest in the missile, & the Sky Flash was licence produced in Sweden as the RB71.

The Sky Flash is expected to serve for many more years with the RAF, & will probably be carried by the new Eurofighter Typhoon. The Sky flash has seen service in the Gulf & Former Yugoslavia, performing well in both regions (though few have ever needed to be fired). Sky Flash still has one of the world's most advanced mono-pulse seekers, & a development of the missile with an even more advanced seeker was proposed in the late Seventies. The British Government abandoned the project (named Sky Flash Mk.2) in 1981, & so missed out on the most advanced missile ever built.