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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2838.PDF
WORLD MISSILE DIRECTORY. range engagements would be similar to those at medium range, but the inertial system would be given an in-flight update. Marginally larger and heavier than Magic, Mica is 3-lm long and weighs about 110kg. A solid- propellant rocket motor will give a maximum range of 50-60km. The airframe has long-chord wings of modest span, a configuration similar to that of the US Standard SAM. Aerodynamic control surfaces will be supplemented by a thrust- vectoring system, to ensure good dogfight agility. Flight tests of this system, which uses small move able surfaces to deflect the exhaust of the rocket motor, started in 1982. INTERNATIONAL British Aerospace AIM-132 Advanced Short- range Air-to-Air Missile The BBG international consortium formed by BAe Dynamics and West German missile manufacturer Bodenseewerke Geratetechnik to develop Asraam is now being wound up, with BAe having been named prime contractor. The US has objected to plans to house the weapon's interface facilities in a Missile Support Unit, a slim unit intended to lie between the missile and the pylon on which it is carried. The weapon is now being reconfigured to house this interface equipment within the airframe, while still meeting US weight requirements. The weapon's IR seeker is know known to be of the imaging infrared (IIR) type, rather than the simpler non-imaging pattern normally used on heat-seeking air-to-air missiles. ISRAEL Rafael Python 3 Python had its combat debut with the Israeli Air Force during clashes with the Syrian Air Force following the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Guidance is by passive infrared homing, using a single-element cooled infrared detector with ±30° gimbal angle. This may be operated in boresight, uncaged, or radar- slaved mode, and allows all-aspect attacks. Operator Israel. ITALY Selenia Aspide Already in service in the surface- to-air role (see Albatros, Sea Sparrow, and Spada entries, pp. 51-52) this missile is also offered in an air-to-air version. The first unguided test launch was made in late 1984 from an F-104S, and guided-flight trials were carried out in 1985 and 1986. Selenia Idra This projected Amraam-class missile will be based on Aspide technology, but will have a fire-and-forget guidance system similar to that of the US AIM-122 Amraam. The seeker will be a J-band monopulse pulse-Doppler unit incorpo rating a planar array antenna and digital signal processing. Strapdown inertial guidance will allow the weapon to be fired in lock-on after launch operating modes, and a spread-spectrum fast- hopping datalink will allow mid-flight updating. Aspide is steered by moveable cruciform wings, the scheme used by the AIM-7 Sparrow missile on which it is based. Idra will have fixed wings, relying on tail control. A SAM version incorpo rating ejectable thrust-vector controls has also been proposed. Work on Idra started in 1983, and captive flight tests of the seeker are due to begin this year. If the Italian Government decides to back the programme, first flight of Idra could take place in 1991, allowing the weapon to enter service in 1995/6. Length: 3-65m Diameter: 21-2cm Wingspan: 68cm Weight: 210-220kg Powerplant: dual-stage solid-propellant rocket JAPAN Mitsubishi AAM-2 Studies of this dogfight missile started in the late 1970s. It is thought to be similar in design to the Matra Magic. When fully devel oped, it will arm the F-4EJ and F-15J. Mitsubishi XAAM-3 Development of this agile heat-seeking missile started in the mid-1980s, but utilises work carried out over the previous decade during research programmes. XAAM-3 will replace the AIM-9L, offering a wider attack envelope, faster turning rate, autonomous target- acquisition, and improved off-boresight and ECCM capability. Development of the warhead is being handled by Komatsu. It will enter service in the early 1990s, serving on the F-4J and F-15J. It could later be fitted to the new FS-X variant of the F-16. XAAM-? A programme to develop a radar-guided missile able to replace the AIM-7 Sparrow is at an early stage, with full-scale development unlikely to begin until the early 1990s. Nippon Yushi and Asahi Kasei are reported to be working on a suit able rocket motor. SOUTH AFRICA Armscor V3/Kukri Development of this heat- seeking missile started at the end of 1971, and the V3A version entered service in 1975. Develop ment of the upgraded V3B then started, and this model entered production in 1979. The Kukri export model has been available since 1981, and may already have scored its first sales success in South America. Armscor Darter This all-aspect missile is based on the earlier Kukri, but has a more sensitive seeker head offering better long-range detection and background rejection, a laser proximity fuze, plus greater manoeuvrability. It probably entered South African Air Force service in early 1988. Like the Kukri, it can be used in conjunction with a helmet sight. Externally similar to the Matra Magic, it is directly compatible with aircraft cleared to carry the French weapon. This resemblance to Magic will help make export deals "invisible". It can be distinguished from Magic by its slightly slimmer diameter (157mm rather than 164mm), different fuselage break points, and its own type of prox imity fuze. SWEDEN Saab Missiles RB.73 Feasibility studies of a new medium-range missile are being conducted by Saab Missiles, working in conjunction with British Aerospace. Suitable for service on the JAS39 Gripen from the mid-1990s onwards, it would combine an ECM-resistant homing head with a high-performance ramjet powerplant developed by Volvo Flygmotor in collaboration with an overseas manufacturer. Saab Missiles Sair Under study as a possible short- range armament for the JAS39 Gripen, Sair (Swed ish Advanced Infrared) would be an agile weapon guided by an imaging IR seeker. Bofors RB.70 Rayrider Bofors has proposed that the RBS.70 light SAM be adapted for use as air-to- air helicopter armament. TAIWAN Chung Shan Institute Sky Sword This IR-guided Sidewinder look-alike is being developed by the Chung Shan Institute of Science and Technology. The project was announced in May 1986. Firing trials from an F-5 have begun, and the weapon may be in service. Development of a medium- range weapon is also under way, but flight testing is not expected to begin until 1989. UNITED KINGDOM BAe Dynamics Sky Flash The first release of Sky Flash from a Tornado ADV prototype took place in November 1981, when an inert missile was used to check the separation of the missile from the aircraft. Guided launches from a Tornado did not begin until February 1985, while a series of shots in late 1987 cleared the way for the weapon's service later that year with the newly-formed first Tornado F.3 squadron. BAe is working on several upgrade schemes for the missile. The Temp (Tornado essential modi fication programme) and Super Temp schemes are thought to be investigating features such as thin ner wings and tail surfaces, a modified guidance system with revised control laws, and a new pattern of rocket motor. Being developed by Royal Ordnance as a replacement for the existing Aerojet unit, the new Hoopoe incorporates a sustainer section which will improve performance against high-flying targets. BAe is currently working on Active Skyflash, a variant fitted with a Marconi active-radar seeker developed under the Facets (Future anti-air concepts experimental technology seeker) pro gramme. Active Skyflash could be developed in collaboration with Sweden to arm the JAS39 Gripen fighter. Saab Missiles is known to have carried out studies in conjunction with BAe on a Skyflash update scheme known as RB.71A, but interest seems to have waned in recent months. Operators Royal Air Force (Phantom, Tornado F.2/3), Royal Swedish Air Force (JA37 Viggen), ordered by Oman and Saudi Arabia (Tornado F.3). UNITED STATES Raytheon/General Dynamics AIM-7 Sparrow The current production model is the AIM-7M, a version which combines the heavier warhead and larger rocket motor introduced by the AIM-7F with an advanced monopulse seeker providing improved resistance to ECM, plus better look- down / shootdown capability. Production of the -7F was limited to only some 5,000 rounds, and most of the surviving stocks will probably be rebuilt to the -7M standard. In 1985 the US Navy was reported to be proposing a next-generation fire-and-forget Spar row variant designated AIM-7X. This was seen as evidence that the Navy wanted to withdraw from the Amraam programme. Supporters of the latter argued that a USN pullout from the AIM-120A would effectively kill the Hughes missile. Devel opment effort now seems to be focused on the AIM-7P. This work is being handled by Raytheon, which won a $ 19 • 6 million USN contract in 1987. The revised missile will have improved guidance electronics, a new fuze, and an onboard computer using very-large-scale integrated circuit (VHSIC) technology, and with twice the capacity and twice the speed of the current model. An associated RIM-9P can be used in Sea Sparrow, while its guid ance system is used in the proposed Evolved Sea Sparrow (see page 51 for details of both). Operators (AIM-7E): USAF, USN, USMC, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan (buil? under licence by Mitsubishi as AIM-7EJ), KoreaJTurkey, UK, Spain; (AIM-7F): USAF, USN, Israel, Japan (built under licence bv Mitsubishi), Saudi Arabia; (AIM-7M): USAF, USN, USMC, Australia, Canada, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Taiwan, Turkey. Ford Aerospace/Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9M is the only version of the Sidewinder being produced in the USA, although the AIM-9L is still being built in Europe by a consortium headed Bodenseewerk, and in Japan by Mitsubishi. Nations receiving the -9L from the USA are being given rounds from USAF and USN stocks, and these are in turn being replaced by AIM-9Ms. 68 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, I October 1988
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