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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0117.PDF
28 January 1955 117 f9«Zeable missile was officialIy released as long ago The missile itself is of comparatively small dimensions and hassolid-propellant boosters attached forward of the wings It has been suggested by Mr. Gatland that it would not contain a homingumt, the electronic equipment being kept as simple as possible. Should this surmise be correct, the "brains" would have beendivided between the launching aircraft and the missile itself Probably m the Meteor's nose there is a radar unit projectinga narrow angle beam along the line of flight. This would be locked on the target at a range of several miles, and at the mostfavourable moment the missile would be discharged along it The missile would therefore be of the class known as "beam-riders" and would itself carry a receiver and servo controls to centralize itself in the guiding beam. At a predetermined distancefrom the target the warhead would probably be detonated by a proximity fuse. A further refinement might be to employ "semi-active" homing, i.e., the launching aircraft would carry a radar transmitter and the missile would guide itself by target reflections. The final step would be to put the entire "brains" into themissile by building a radar scanner into the nose in order to locate the target and make all corrections necessary to achievea hit. The photograph previously referred to accompanied a state-ment by the then Minister of Supply entitled Progress of British •Guided Rockets, from which this paragraph is taken: "In addi-tion to missiles fired from the ground or from ships, we have reached an advanced stage in the development of guided rocketsto be launched from fighter aircraft. These will increase the kill- ing power of our fighters many times over, and will enable themto engage an enemy bomber from a distance beyond the range at which it can defend itself with any conventional aircraft gun." Since that time a Supermarine Attacker has appeared in publicwith two sturdy under-wing carriers, supposedly for missiles, and printed references have been made to a Supermarine Swiftand English Electric Canberras carrying guided weapons, like- wise beneath their wings. That the Hawker Hunter, GlosterJavelin, D.H.I 10, Supermarine 525 development and English Electric P.I will, in certain forms at least, be missile-armed, is acertainty. Among British firms engaged in missile development (notnecessarily air-to-air) are Armstrong Whitworth, Bristol, de Havilland, E.M.I., English Electric, Fairey, Vickers-Arm-strongs and Sperry. It is reported in America that British fighters—the GlosterJavelin first, and others later—will be armed with a de Havilland air-to-air missile which homes on to sources of infra-red (i.e., heat)radiation. Heat, it is pointed out, forms part of the light spectrum, and devices which measure light can, if they are sensitive enough,measure heat radiation. Since they respond to heat they are less effective in sunlight, or in the presence of multiple heatsources; but by their very nature their guidance systems gain increased accuracy as they approach their targets. A guidance system based on detection of infra-red rays hasobvious limitations. It has a short range (about ten miles at night and less in daylight), and artificial "targets" (i.e., infra-redsearchlights) could throw the missile off course. A writer in American Aviation is of the opinion that heat detectors may proveextremely valuable for specialized conditions—for instance, inter- cepting a supersonic missile of predominantly plastic construc-tion fired on a ballistic trajectory. If developments permit future infra-red systems to home on heat caused by the skin friction ofsupersonic missiles, or to gain sufficient signal strength from a head-on approach of another missile or aircraft (from the radiatingexhaust heat), heat detectors could, it is considered, prove of unique value. ,In Canada a very promising air-to-air weapon is under develop- ment. Most of the initial theoretical study underlying thedesign was carried out with electronic analogue computers, which examined the behaviour of a hypothetical missile tracking ahypothetical target. The work was largely undertaken at the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment,Valcartier, Quebec, though design of the weapon s airfrarne was entrusted to Canadair, Ltd., at Montreal. Some associated elec-tronic work was the responsibility of Westmghouse. Last August most of the components and systems were known to be in areasonably advanced state of development; the basic shell had been launched from the ground, using rocket boosters and anair-launching had also been achieved. .The weapon is hkely to see service on Sabres and Avro Canada CF-lOOs, and may besucceeded by more advanced types for employment from the ^l early air-to-air missiles developed in America was thebfflxAAMAl), produced in small quant g» dunng the -A-l), produced in small q gT&'SSB was SgS JS to the genera! proximity of the target and Experimental installation of 7-770 rocket launchers on a Northrop F-89 Scorpion. Tests hove been con- ducted at the U.S.A.F. Armament Centre, Eglin A.F.B. The officially approved photograph above shows a pair of guided missiles being experimentally launched from an Armstrong Whitworth Meteor N.F.I 1 night fighter. This is the only photograph of a British air- launched missile yet cleared tor publication. Below is a possible missile-carrier on a Supermarine Attacker of the Royal Naval Air Fighting Development Unit. (Below) Ryan Firebirds emplaced on a U.S.A.F. fighter.
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