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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 1652.PDF
740 FLIGHT, 8 November 1957? WEAPON SYSTEM NO weapon system can be complete without a weapon; and although English Electric P.1A prototypehave carried 30 mm Aden guns, it has long been known that the principal armament of the P.1B would be air-to-air guided missiles. These photographs are the first to show the type of missile—the D.H. PropellersFirestreak—mounted on a P.IB, although the configuration of the system was revealed in a model which was exhibited at the 1957 S.B.A.C. show Flight, September 6, p. 393). Although a single-seater (in its intercepter form, at any rate) the P. IB has been designed for all-weatheroperation, and it obviously carries far more aids, and much more comprehensive radar, than any previous R.A.F. machine of its class. It seems fairly evident that the conical centre-body inside the intake houses a search-radar scanner, with which the P.I will hunt for its target after haying been vectored by ground-control. The infra-red homing head, or seeker, of the Firestreak is probably switched on during the entire mission. As soonas the pilot receives a positive indication that either missile has "locked-on" to its target, that round can be fired, and left to home on to the hot parts of the enemy machine. Each Firestreak rides in a standard shoe,carried on the end of a horizontal pylon. Although unusual, this arrangement of stores baa much to commend it.
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