The ArmaLite AR-5 is a lightweight bolt-action takedown rifle chambered for the .22 Hornet cartridge and adopted as the MA-1 aircrew survival rifle by the United States Air Force . It was developed by ArmaLite , a division of Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation in 1954.
125-629: The U.S. Air Force needed a compact, lightweight, accurate rifle for the new XB-70 manned bomber aircrew's survival kits. Since the M4 and M6 aircrew survival weapons were no longer in manufacture, the Air Force put out a request for a new survival weapon. Shortly after Fairchild established the ArmaLite division in 1954, ArmaLite designed and submitted the AR-5 in response. The Air Force officially adopted
250-513: A honeycomb-shaped foil core. Expensive titanium would be used only in high-temperature areas like the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer, and the nose. To cool the interior, the XB-70 pumped fuel en route to the engines through heat exchangers. On 30 August 1957, the Air Force decided that enough data were available on the NAA and Boeing designs that a competition could begin. On 18 September,
375-600: A "flak rocket" concept, which led Walter Dornberger to ask Wernher von Braun to prepare a study on a guided missile able to reach between 15,000 and 18,000 m (49,000 and 59,000 ft) altitude. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, and said as much to the director of the T-Amt , Roluf Lucht , in July. The directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and
500-739: A 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. This weapon did not emerge for 16 years, when it entered operation as the RIM-8 Talos . Heavy shipping losses to kamikaze attacks during the Liberation of the Philippines and the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for guided missile development. This led to the British Fairey Stooge and Brakemine efforts, and
625-532: A SAM system in earnest with the opening of the Cold War . Joseph Stalin was worried that Moscow would be subjected to American and British air raids , like those against Berlin , and, in 1951, he demanded that a missile system to counter a 900 bomber raid be built as quickly as possible. This led to the S-25 Berkut system ( NATO reporting name : SA-1 "Guild"), which was designed, developed and deployed in
750-541: A basic survival kit, stored within the stock, which was 14 inches (36 cm) long and thus able to fit in Air Force bailout packs. Additionally, the rifle was able to float in water, whether it was assembled or stowed. Armalite used the research and tooling for the AR-5/MA-1 to develop the Armalite AR-7 , an eight-shot semi-automatic takedown rifle chambered for the .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Released in 1959 as
875-442: A chemical-fuel bomber with Mach 0.9 cruising speed and "maximum possible" speed during a 1,000-nautical-mile (1,200 mi; 1,900 km) entrance and exit from the target. The requirement also called for a 50,000-pound (23,000 kg) payload and a combat radius of 4,000 nautical miles (4,600 mi; 7,400 km). The Air Force formed similar requirements for a WS-110L intercontinental reconnaissance system in 1955, but this
1000-485: A civilian survival weapon and in continuous production since then, the AR-7 is related to the AR-5 in terms of its overall layout and retains the same modular takedown, storage in stock, and the ability to float. North American XB-70 Valkyrie The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie is a retired prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear -armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for
1125-428: A concept was technically feasible, but by March 1957, engine development and wind tunnel testing had progressed enough to suggest that it was. WS-110 was redesigned to fly at Mach 3 for the entire mission. Zip fuel was retained for the engine's afterburner to increase range. Both North American and Boeing returned new designs with very long fuselages and large delta wings. They differed primarily in engine layout;
1250-455: A conventional jet engine, thrust is provided by heating air using jet fuel and accelerating it out a nozzle. In a nuclear engine, heat is supplied by a reactor, whose consumables last for months instead of hours. Most designs also carried a small amount of jet fuel for high-power portions of flight, such as takeoffs and high-speed dashes. Another possibility being explored at the time was the use of boron -enriched " zip fuels ", which increase
1375-407: A conventional war. Once a major group unto itself, medium-range designs have seen less development since the 1990s, as the focus has changed to unconventional warfare. Developments have also been made in onboard maneuverability. Israel's David's Sling Stunner missile is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude. The multi-stage interceptor consists of
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#17327804907431500-692: A degree, leading to the introduction of the FIM-43 Redeye , SA-7 Grail and Blowpipe . Rapid improvement in the 1980s led to second generation designs, like the FIM-92 Stinger , 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14), Igla-1 and Starstreak , with dramatically improved performance. By the 1990s to the 2010s, the Chinese had developed designs drawing influence from these, notably the FN-6 and the QW series . Through
1625-556: A four-volume report on the B-70 that was published by NASA in April 1972. On 7 May 1965, a 3-foot (1 m) piece of the apex of the wing broke off in flight and caused extensive damage to five of the six engines. They were sent to GE and repaired. The sixth engine was inspected and re-installed in the aircraft. On 14 October 1965, AV-1 surpassed Mach 3, but heat and stress damaged the honeycomb panels, leaving 2 ft (60 cm) of
1750-467: A head-on approach at low speeds comparable to manned aircraft. These designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below. These included Wasserfall and Rheintochter. Both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on
1875-533: A layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles. The American Nike Ajax was the first operational SAM system, and the Soviet Union's S-75 Dvina was the most-produced SAM system. Widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 and MBDA Aster Missile naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like
2000-523: A lower altitude, the reflection of the ground would overwhelm the signal returned from a target. An interceptor flying at normal altitudes would be effectively blind to bombers far below it. The interceptor could descend to lower altitudes to increase the amount of visible sky, but doing so would limit its radar range in the same way as the missile sites, as well as greatly increasing fuel use and thus reducing mission time. The Soviet Union would not introduce an interceptor with look-down capability until 1972 with
2125-492: A mid-air collision with an F-104 while flying in a multi-aircraft formation. Sonic boom and later testing continued with XB-70A #1. The second flight research program (NASA NAS4-1174) investigated "control of structural dynamics" from 25 April 1967 through the XB-70's last flight in 1969. At high altitude and high speed, the XB-70A experienced unwanted changes in altitude. NASA testing from June 1968 included two small vanes on
2250-439: A part of their multi-layered air defence. SAM systems generally fall into two broad groups based on their guidance systems, those using radar and those using some other means. Longer range missiles generally use radar for early detection and guidance. Early SAM systems generally used tracking radars and fed guidance information to the missile using radio control concepts, referred to in the field as command guidance . Through
2375-473: A period of time before the radar systems were able to track the missile and start sending it guidance signals. With the SA-2 missile, this minimum altitude was roughly 2,000 feet (600 m). Flying at low level provided protection against fighters as well. Radars of the era did not have the ability to look down (see look-down/shoot-down ); if a higher altitude aircraft's radar was aimed down to detect targets at
2500-492: A rush program. Early units entered operational service on 7 May 1955, and the entire system ringing Moscow was completely activated by June 1956. The system failed, however, to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of the Soviet capital Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956. The S-25 was a static system, but efforts were also put into a smaller design that would be much more mobile. This emerged in 1957 as
2625-462: A separate tracking radar for attack. Short range systems are more likely to be entirely visual for detection. Hybrid systems are also common. The MIM-72 Chaparral was fired optically, but normally operated with a short range early warning radar that displayed targets to the operator. This radar, the FAAR , was taken into the field with a Gama Goat and set up behind the lines. Information was passed to
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#17327804907432750-522: A single radar screen. Development of all these systems was carried out at the same time, and the war ended before any of them was ready for combat use. The infighting between various groups in the military also delayed development. Some extreme fighter designs, like the Komet and Natter , also overlapped with SAMs in their intended uses. Albert Speer was especially supportive of missile development. In his opinion, had they been consistently developed from
2875-597: A smaller aircraft while flying in close formation; the remaining Valkyrie bomber is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. In an offshoot of Boeing 's MX-2145 crewed boost-glide bomber project, Boeing hired RAND Corporation in January 1954 to explore what sort of bomber aircraft would be needed to deliver the various nuclear weapons under development. At
3000-584: A solid-fuel, rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. MANPAD systems first developed in the 1960s and proved themselves in battle during the 1970s. MANPADS normally have ranges on the order of 3 km (1.9 mi) and are effective against attack helicopters and aircraft making ground attacks. Against fixed wing aircraft, they can be very effective, forcing them to fly outside
3125-428: A speed of Mach 3.05 while flying at 72,000 ft (22,000 m). AV-2 reached a top speed of Mach 3.08 and maintained it for 20 minutes on 12 April 1966. On 19 May 1966, AV-2 reached Mach 3.06 and flew at Mach 3 for 32 minutes, covering 2,400 mi (3,900 km) in 91 minutes of total flight. A joint NASA/USAF research program was conducted from 3 November 1966 to 31 January 1967 for measuring
3250-498: A time of gunpowder when we spoke of bombers in the missile age". In December 1959 the Air Force announced the B-70 project would be cut to a single prototype, and most of the planned B-70 subsystems would no longer be developed. Then interest increased due to the politics of presidential campaign of 1960 . A central plank of John F. Kennedy 's campaign was that Eisenhower and the Republicans were weak on defense, and pointed to
3375-519: A variation of the SARH technique, but based on laser illumination instead of radar. These have the advantage of being small and very fast acting, as well as highly accurate. A few older designs use purely optical tracking and command guidance, perhaps the best known example of this is the British Rapier system, which was initially an all-optical system with high accuracy. All SAM systems from
3500-567: Is due to improved rocket fuels and ever-smaller electronics in the guidance systems. Some very long-range systems remain, notably the Russian S-400 , which has a range of 400 km (250 mi). Medium-range designs, like the Rapier and 2K12 Kub , are specifically designed to be highly mobile with very fast, or zero, setup times. Many of these designs were mounted on armoured vehicles, allowing them to keep pace with mobile operations in
3625-619: Is expected that they would be more widely used against sea skimming missiles rather than aircraft . Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs, and naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialize in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga -class cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system or Kirov -class cruisers with the S-300F Fort missile system. Modern Warships may carry all three types (from long-range to short-range) of SAMs as
3750-507: Is line-of-sight, so aircraft could dramatically shorten detection distances by flying close to the Earth and hiding behind terrain. Missile sites spaced to overlap in range when attacking bombers at high altitudes would leave large gaps between their coverage for bombers flying at lower levels. With an appropriate map of the missile sites, the bombers could fly between and around the defenses. Additionally, early missiles generally flew unguided for
3875-562: The AR-7 , AR-10 and AR-15 ). The earlier M6 Aircrew Survival Weapon is a superposed ("over-under") break action combination gun with a .22 Hornet single-shot rifle barrel over a .410 shotgun barrel. While there is versatility to such a combination, the AR-5's detachable box magazine-fed bolt action has the advantage of rapid-fire capability. The AR-5, like the M4 Survival Rifle and M6 US Air Force survival rifles, used
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4000-595: The B-52 with the Mach ;2 top speed of the Convair B-58 Hustler . The new bomber was expected to enter service in 1963. Nuclear and conventional designs were considered. The nuclear-powered bomber was organized as " Weapon System 125A " and pursued simultaneously with the jet-powered version, "Weapon System 110A". The USAF Air Research and Development Command's (ARDC) requirement for WS-110A asked for
4125-517: The Boeing B-17 , which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights , an average of 2,805 rounds had to be fired per bomber destroyed. Bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases the cost of the system, and (generally) slows the rate of fire. Faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like
4250-576: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234 , flak would be essentially useless. This potential was already obvious by 1942, when Walther von Axthelm outlined the growing problems with flak defences that he predicted would soon be dealing with "aircraft speeds and flight altitudes [that] will gradually reach 1,000 km/h (620 mph) and between 10,000–15,000 m (33,000–49,000 ft)." This
4375-601: The Boeing B-47 Stratojet in the medium-range role. The Hustler was expensive to develop and purchase, and required enormous amounts of fuel and maintenance in comparison to the B-47. It was estimated that it cost three times as much to operate as the much larger and longer-ranged B-52. The B-70, designed for even higher speeds, altitudes and range than the B-58, suffered even more in relative terms. At high altitudes,
4500-569: The F-108 supersonic interceptor. To reduce program costs, the F-108 would share two of the engines, the escape capsule, and some smaller systems with the B-70. In early 1960, North American and the USAF released the first drawing of the XB-70 to the public. The B-70 was planned to use a high-speed, high-altitude bombing approach that followed a trend of bombers flying progressively faster and higher since
4625-719: The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) on 24 January 1962 that the B-70 was unjustifiable, LeMay subsequently argued for the B-70 to both the House and Senate committees—and was chastised by McNamara on 1 March. By 7 March 1962, the HASC, 21 of whose members had B-70 work in their districts, had written an appropriations bill to "direct"—by law—the Executive Branch to use all of the nearly $ 500 million (equivalent to $ 5 billion today) appropriated for
4750-629: The Nike Hercules , the first nuclear-armed SAM. The U.S. Army Air Forces had also considered collision-course weapons (like the German radio-controlled concepts) and launched Project Thumper in 1946. This was merged with another project, Wizard, and emerged as the CIM-10 Bomarc in 1959. The Bomarc had a range of over 500 km, but it was quite expensive and somewhat unreliable. Development of Oerlikon 's RSD 58 started in 1947, and
4875-590: The Sea Slug . The Vietnam War was the first modern war in which guided antiaircraft missiles seriously challenged highly advanced supersonic jet aircraft. It would also be the first and only time that the latest and most modern air defense technologies of the Soviet Union and the most modern jet fighter planes and bombers of the United States confronted each other in combat (if one does not count
5000-523: The Soviet Union 's Tupolev Tu-144 SST program. The development of the Lockheed U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft , as well as the XB-70, prompted Soviet aerospace engineers to design and develop their high-altitude and high-speed MiG-25 interceptor . The Valkyrie was designed to be a high-altitude Mach 3 bomber with six engines. Harrison Storms shaped
5125-453: The Stinger and 9K38 Igla . The first known idea for a guided surface-to-air missile was in 1925, when a beam riding system was proposed whereby a rocket would follow a searchlight beam onto a target. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rocket's four tail fins, with the cells facing backwards. When one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in
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5250-457: The U.S. Navy 's SAM-N-2 Lark . The Lark ran into considerable difficulty and it never entered operational use. The end of the war led to the British efforts being used strictly for research and development throughout their lifetime. In the immediate post-war era, SAM developments were under way around the world, with several of these entering service in the early- and mid-1950s. Coming to
5375-587: The United States Air Force Strategic Air Command . Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA) to replace the B-52 Stratofortress and B-58 Hustler , the six-engine, delta-winged Valkyrie could cruise for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m). At these speeds, it was expected that the B-70 would be practically immune to interceptor aircraft ,
5500-423: The energy density of jet fuel by about 40 percent, and could be used in modified versions of existing jet engine designs. Zip fuels appeared to offer sufficient performance improvement to produce a strategic bomber with supersonic speed. The Air Force followed these developments closely, and in 1955 issued General Operational Requirement No. 38 for a new bomber, combining the payload and intercontinental range of
5625-458: The .22 Hornet cartridge which has 2.3 times the muzzle velocity and 7 times the energy of the common .22 Long Rifle (when comparing 40 gr bullets), and yet still has a light recoil in such a light rifle (2.5 lbs.). Designed to be stowed in cramped aircraft cockpits, the rifle had a takedown design and was primarily made from lightweight plastics and aluminum alloys. The AR-5 was unique for being able to be disassembled with all working parts, plus
5750-399: The 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide
5875-489: The 1960s, the semi-active radar homing (SARH) concept became much more common. In SARH, the reflections of the tracking radar's broadcasts are picked up by a receiver in the missile, which homes in on this signal. SARH has the advantage of leaving most of the equipment on the ground, while also eliminating the need for the ground station to communicate with the missile after launch. Smaller missiles, especially MANPADS, generally use infrared homing guidance systems. These have
6000-488: The AR-5 as the MA-1 in 1956. Due to the cancellation of the XB-70 fleet, though, the Air Force never received funding to buy more than the original 12 test models. The M4 and M6 aircrew survival weapons already in inventory were judged to be sufficient for existing Air Force needs. However, adoption of the MA-1 established ArmaLite as a recognized firearms company, leading to several other rifle designs of varying success (e.g.,
6125-457: The Air Force issued operational requirements that called for a cruising speed of Mach 3.0 to 3.2, an over-target altitude of 70,000–75,000 ft (21,000–23,000 m), a range of up to 10,500 miles (16,900 km), and a gross weight not to exceed 490,000 pounds (220,000 kg). The aircraft would have to use the hangars, runways and handling procedures used by the B-52. On 23 December 1957,
6250-523: The Air Force's plan for the B-70 to reconnoiter and strike rail-mobile Soviet ICBMs, but the Chief of Staff of the Air Force , General Thomas White , admitted the Soviets would "be able to hit the B-70 with rockets" and requested the B-70 be downgraded to "a bare minimum research and development program" at $ 200 million for fiscal year 1960 (equivalent to $ 2.1 billion today). President Eisenhower responded that
6375-631: The B-70 as an example. He told a San Diego audience near NAA facilities, "I endorse wholeheartedly the B-70 manned aircraft." Kennedy also made similar campaign claims regarding other aircraft: near the Seattle Boeing plant he affirmed the need for B-52s and in Fort Worth he praised the B-58. The Air Force changed the program to full weapon development and awarded a contract for an XB-70 prototype and 11 YB-70s in August 1960. In November 1960,
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#17327804907436500-473: The B-70 program received a $ 265 million (equivalent to $ 2.7 billion today) appropriation from Congress for FY 1961. Nixon, trailing in his home state of California, also publicly endorsed the B-70, and on 30 October Eisenhower helped the Republican campaign with a pledge of an additional $ 155 million ($ 1.6 billion today) for the B-70 development program. On taking office in January 1961, Kennedy
6625-478: The B-70 was as much as four times as fast as the B-52, but at low altitudes it was limited to only Mach 0.95, only modestly faster than the B-52 at the same altitudes. It also had a smaller bomb load and shorter range. Its only major advantage would be its ability to use high speed in areas without missile cover, especially on the long journey from the US to USSR. The value was limited; the USAF's doctrine stressed that
6750-537: The B-70 would add little performance for the high cost. After becoming the new Air Force Chief of Staff in July 1961, Curtis LeMay increased his B-70 advocacy, including interviews for August Reader's Digest and November Aviation Week articles, and allowing a 25 February General Electric tour at which the press was provided artist conceptions of, and other info about, the B-70. Congress had also continued B-70 appropriations to resurrect bomber development. After Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara explained again to
6875-597: The High Lark radar in the MiG-23M , and even this model had very limited capability. Strategic Air Command found itself in an uncomfortable position; bombers had been tuned for efficiency at high speeds and altitudes, performance that had been purchased at great cost in both engineering and financial terms. Before the B-70 was to replace the B-52 in the long-range role, SAC had introduced the B-58 Hustler to replace
7000-623: The NAA design arranged its six engines in a semi-circular duct under the rear fuselage, while the Boeing design used separate podded engines located individually on pylons below the wing, like the Hustler. North American scoured available literature to find any additional advantage. This led them to an obscure report by two NACA wind tunnel experts, who wrote a report in 1956 titled "Aircraft Configurations Developing High Lift-Drag Ratios at High Supersonic Speeds". Known today as compression lift ,
7125-615: The North American proposal was declared the winner of the competition, and on 24 January 1958, a contract was issued for Phase 1 development. In February 1958, the proposed bomber was designated B-70 , with the prototypes receiving the "X" experimental prototype designation . The name " Valkyrie " was the winning submission in early 1958, selected from 20,000 entries in a USAF "Name the B-70" contest. The Air Force approved an 18-month program acceleration in March 1958 that rescheduled
7250-490: The RS-70 (see Variants ). McNamara was unsuccessful with an address to the HASC on 14 March, but a 19 March 1962 11th hour White House Rose Garden agreement between Kennedy and HASC chairman Carl Vinson retracted the bill's language and the bomber remained canceled. The XB-70s were intended to be used for the advanced study of aerodynamics , propulsion , and other subjects related to large supersonic transports. The crew
7375-679: The Yom Kippur War wherein IAF was challenged by Syrian SA-3s). The USAF responded to this threat with increasingly effective means. Early efforts to directly attack the missiles sites as part of Operation Spring High and Operation Iron Hand were generally unsuccessful, but the introduction of Wild Weasel aircraft carrying Shrike missiles and the Standard ARM missile changed the situation dramatically. Feint and counterfeint followed as each side introduced new tactics to try to gain
7500-532: The advantage of being "fire-and-forget", once launched they will home on the target on their own with no external signals needed. In comparison, SARH systems require the tracking radar to illuminate the target, which may require them to be exposed through the attack. Systems combining an infrared seeker as a terminal guidance system on a missile using SARH are also known, like the MIM-46 Mauler , but these are generally rare. Some newer short-range systems use
7625-547: The advent of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) during the late 1950s, crewed nuclear bombers were increasingly seen as obsolete. The USAF eventually gave up fighting for its production and the B-70 program was cancelled in 1961. Development was then turned over to a research program to study the effects of long-duration high-speed flight. As a result, two prototype aircraft, designated XB-70A, were built; these aircraft were used for supersonic test-flights from 1964 to 1969. In 1966, one prototype crashed after colliding with
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#17327804907437750-460: The aircraft with a canard surface and a delta wing , which was built largely of stainless steel , sandwiched honeycomb panels, and titanium . The XB-70 was designed to use supersonic technologies developed for the Mach 3 SM-64 Navaho , as well as a modified form of the Navaho's inertial guidance system. The XB-70 used compression lift , which resulted from a shock wave generated by
7875-446: The aircraft to maintain directional stability at high speeds. NAA's solution had an additional advantage, as it decreased the surface area of the rear of the wing when the panels were moved into their high-speed position. This helped offset the natural rearward shift of the center of pressure , or "average lift point", with increasing speeds. Under normal conditions this caused an increasing nose-down trim, which had to be offset by moving
8000-461: The bomber remaining outside the range of the ship's antiaircraft guns , and the missiles themselves were too small and fast to be attacked effectively. To combat this threat, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Bumblebee to develop a ramjet-powered missile to destroy the launching aircraft at long range. The initial performance goal was to target an intercept at a horizontal range of 10 miles (16 km) and 30,000 feet (9,100 m) altitude, with
8125-639: The control surfaces, increasing drag . When the wing tips were drooped, the lifting area of the wings was lessened, moving the lift forward and reducing trim drag . The buildup of heat due to skin friction during sustained supersonic flight had to be addressed. During a Mach 3 cruise, the aircraft would reach an average of 450 °F (230 °C), with leading edges reaching 630 °F (330 °C), and up to 1,000 °F (540 °C) in engine compartments. NAA proposed building their design out of sandwich panels , with each panel consisting of two thin sheets of stainless steel brazed to opposite faces of
8250-714: The crushing of his arm by the closing clamshell-like escape crew capsule moments prior to ejection. Surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile ( SAM ), also known as a ground-to-air missile ( GTAM ) or surface-to-air guided weapon ( SAGW ), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system ; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles. The first attempt at SAM development took place during World War II , but no operational systems were introduced. Further development in
8375-549: The designs, and in September 1956 deemed them too large and complicated for operations. General Curtis LeMay was dismissive, declaiming, "This is not an airplane, it's a three-ship formation." The USAF ended Phase 1 development in October 1956 and instructed the two contractors to continue design studies. While the original proposals were being studied, advances in supersonic flight were proceeding rapidly. The narrow delta
8500-597: The difference. Most of the range lost in the change from zip fuel was restored by filling one of the two bomb bays with a fuel tank. Another problem arose when the XF-108 program was canceled in September 1959, which ended the shared development that benefited the B-70 program. At two secret meetings on 16 and 18 November 1959, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Air Force General Nathan Twining , recommended
8625-520: The effectiveness of North Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery, which used data from S-75 radar stations However, the U.S states only 205 of those aircraft were lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles. All of these early systems were "heavyweight" designs with limited mobility and requiring considerable set-up time. However, they were also increasingly effective. By the early 1960s, the deployment of SAMs had rendered high-speed high-altitude flight in combat practically suicidal. The way to avoid this
8750-423: The engines, better positioning the shock in relation to the wing. The six individually-podded engines were repositioned, three in each of two separate ducts, under the fuselage. North American improved on the basic concept by adding a set of drooping wing-tip panels that were lowered at high speed. This helped trap the shock wave under the wing between the downturned wing tips. It also added more vertical surface to
8875-511: The engines. To reduce the likelihood of autoignition , nitrogen was injected into the JP-6 during refueling, and the "fuel pressurization and inerting system " vaporized a 700-pound (320 kg) supply of liquid nitrogen to fill the fuel tank vent space and maintain tank pressure. The XB-70's maiden flight was on 21 September 1964. In the first flight test, between Palmdale and Edwards AFB, one engine had to be shut down shortly after take-off, and an undercarriage malfunction warning meant that
9000-860: The evolution of SAMs, improvements were also being made to anti-aircraft artillery , but the missiles pushed them into ever shorter-range roles. By the 1980s, the only remaining widespread use was point-defense of airfields and ships, especially against cruise missiles . By the 1990s, even these roles were being encroached on by new MANPADS and similar short-range weapons, like the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile . Surface-to-air missiles are classified by their guidance , mobility, altitude and range . Missiles able to fly longer distances are generally heavier, and therefore less mobile. This leads to three "natural" classes of SAM systems; heavy long-range systems that are fixed or semi-mobile, medium-range vehicle-mounted systems that can fire on
9125-424: The famous S-75 Dvina (SA-2 "Guideline"), a portable system, with very high performance, that remained in operation into the 2000s. The Soviet Union remained at the forefront of SAM development throughout its history; and Russia has followed suit. The early British developments with Stooge and Brakemine were successful, but further development was curtailed in the post-war era. These efforts picked up again with
9250-566: The first Soviet surface-to-air missiles in the late 1950s put the near-invulnerability of the B-70 in doubt. In response, the US Air Force (USAF) began flying its missions at low level, where the missile radar's line of sight was limited by terrain. In this low-level penetration role, the B-70 offered little additional performance over the B-52 it was meant to replace, while being far more expensive with shorter range. Alternative missions were proposed, but these were of limited scope. With
9375-503: The first example was a Royal Navy system known as the Holman Projector , used as a last-ditch weapon on smaller ships. The Germans also produced a similar short-range weapon known as Fliegerfaust , but it entered operation only on a very limited scale. The performance gap between this weapon and jet fighters of the post-war era was so great that such designs would not be effective. By the 1960s, technology had closed this gap to
9500-400: The first flight to December 1961. But in late 1958 the service announced that this acceleration would not be possible due to lack of funding. In December 1958, a Phase II contract was issued. The mockup of the B-70 was reviewed by the Air Force in March 1959. Provisions for air-to-surface missiles and external fuel tanks were requested afterward. At the same time, North American was developing
9625-462: The first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter , as well as the unguided Taifun which was designed to be launched in waves. In general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and then flown towards them on
9750-420: The fixed cockpit windshield. With the ramp raised into its high-speed position, the forebody was more streamlined. Rain removal and windshield anti-ice was accomplished by utilizing 600 °F (320 °C) bleed air from the engines. The lower forward section included a radar bay, and production machines were to be equipped with a refueling receptacle on the upper surface of the forward fuselage. The XB-70
9875-617: The flight was flown with the undercarriage down as a precaution, limiting speed to 390 mph (630 km/h) – about half that planned. During landing, the rear wheels of the port side main gear locked, the tires ruptured, and a fire started. The Valkyrie first became supersonic (Mach 1.1) on the third test flight on 12 October 1964, and flew above Mach 1 for 40 minutes during the following flight on 24 October. The wing tips were also lowered partially in this flight. XB-70 No. 1 surpassed Mach 3 on 14 October 1965 by reaching Mach 3.02 at 70,000 ft (21,000 m). The first aircraft
10000-786: The formation. After the photoshoot, the F-104 drifted into the XB-70's right wingtip, flipped and rolled inverted over the top of the Valkyrie, before striking the bomber's vertical stabilizers and left wing. The F-104 then exploded, destroying the Valkyrie's vertical stabilizers and damaging its left wing. Despite the loss of both vertical stabilizers and damage to the wings, the Valkyrie flew straight for 16 seconds before it entered an uncontrollable spin and crashed north of Barstow, California . NASA Chief Test Pilot Joe Walker (F-104 pilot) and Carl Cross (XB-70 co-pilot) were killed. Al White (XB-70 pilot) ejected, sustaining serious injuries, including
10125-465: The fuel turned into caustic and abrasive liquids and solids that increased wear on moving turbine engine components and were toxic, making servicing difficult. Although the B-70 was intended to use zip only in the afterburners, and thus avoid this problem, the enormous cost of the zip program for such limited gains led to its cancellation. This by itself was not a fatal problem as newly developed high-energy fuels like JP-6 were available to make up some of
10250-437: The idea was to use the shock wave generated off the nose or other sharp points on the aircraft as a source of high-pressure air. By carefully positioning the wing in relation to the shock, the shock's high pressure could be captured on the bottom of the wing and generate additional lift. To take maximum advantage of this effect, they redesigned the underside of the aircraft to feature a large triangular intake area far forward of
10375-561: The intensity and signature of sonic booms for the National Sonic Boom Program. Testing was planned to cover a range of sonic boom overpressures on the ground similar to but higher than those anticipated from the proposed American SST . In 1966, AV-2 was selected for the program and was outfitted with test sensors. It flew the first sonic boom test on 6 June 1966, attaining a speed of Mach 3.05 at 72,000 ft (22,000 m). Two days later, AV-2 crashed following
10500-399: The leading edge of the engine intake splitter below the apex of the wing. At Mach 3 cruising speed, the shock wave is bent back about 65 degrees and the wing is superimposed on the shock system which has a pressure 40 pounds per square foot (1.9 kPa) higher under the aircraft than in front of the shock. The compression lift provided five percent of the total lift. Camber was added to
10625-445: The leading edge of the left wing missing. The first aircraft was limited to Mach 2.5 afterwards. On 8 June 1966, XB-70A No. 2 was in close formation with four other aircraft (an F-4 Phantom , an F-5 , a T-38 Talon , and an F-104 Starfighter ) for a photoshoot at the behest of General Electric, manufacturer of the engines of all five aircraft. A sixth aircraft, a Learjet 23 , had been contracted by General Electric to photograph
10750-607: The loss of three B-52s and several others damaged in a single mission. Dramatic changes followed, and by the end of the series, missions were carried out with additional chaff, ECM, Iron Hand, and other changes that dramatically changed the score. By the conclusion of the Linebacker II campaign, the shootdown rate of the S-75 against the B-52s was 7.52% (15 B-52s were shot down, 5 B-52s were heavily damaged for 266 missiles) During
10875-443: The mid-1960s, almost all modern armed forces had short-range missiles mounted on trucks or light armour that could move with the armed forces they protected. Examples include the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) and 9K33 Osa (SA-8), MIM-23 Hawk , Rapier , Roland and Crotale . The introduction of sea-skimming missiles in the late 1960s and 1970s led to additional mid- and short-range designs for defence against these targets. The UK's Sea Cat
11000-455: The missile's envelope and thereby greatly reducing their effectiveness in ground-attack roles. MANPAD systems are sometimes used with vehicle mounts to improve maneuverability, like the Avenger system. These systems have encroached on the performance niche formerly filled by dedicated mid-range systems. Ship-based anti-aircraft missiles are also considered to be SAMs, although in practice it
11125-611: The move, and short-range man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). Modern long-range weapons include the MIM-104 Patriot and S-300 systems, which have effective ranges on the order of 150 km (93 mi) and offer relatively good mobility and short unlimbering times. These compare with older systems with similar or less range, like the MIM-14 Nike Hercules or S-75 Dvina , which required fixed sites of considerable size. Much of this performance increase
11250-445: The nose of AV-1 for measuring the response of the aircraft's stability augmentation system. AV-1 flew a total of 83 flights. The XB-70's last supersonic flight took place on 17 December 1968. On 4 February 1969, AV-1 took its final flight to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for museum display (now the National Museum of the United States Air Force ). Flight data was collected on this subsonic trip. North American Rockwell completed
11375-487: The only effective weapon against bomber aircraft at the time. The bomber would spend only a brief time over a particular radar station, flying out of its range before the controllers could position their fighters in a suitable location for an interception. Its high speed made the aircraft difficult to see on radar displays and its high-altitude and high-speed capabilities could not be matched by any contemporaneous Soviet interceptor or fighter aircraft. The introduction of
11500-678: The opening of the Cold War, following the "Stage Plan" of improving UK air defences with new radars, fighters and missiles. Two competing designs were proposed for "Stage 1", based on common radar and control units, and these emerged as the RAF's Bristol Bloodhound in 1958, and the Army's English Electric Thunderbird in 1959. A third design followed the American Bumblebee efforts in terms of role and timeline, and entered service in 1961 as
11625-400: The opposite direction back into the beam. The first historical mention of a concept and design of a surface-to-air missile in which a drawing was presented, was by inventor Gustav Rasmus in 1931, who proposed a design that would home in on the sound of an aircraft's engines. During World War II , efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was generally considered that flak
11750-400: The primary reason for maintaining the bomber force in an era of ICBMs was that the bombers could remain in the air at long ranges from their bases and were thus immune to sneak attack. In this case, the higher speed would be used for only a short period of time between the staging areas and the Soviet coastline. Adding to the problems, the zip fuel program was canceled in 1959. After burning,
11875-546: The problem of flying at three times the speed of sound with an airframe potentially useful as a bomber." After Congress approved $ 290 million ($ 3 billion today) of B-70 "add-on" funds to the President's 12 May 1960 modified FY 1961 budget, the Administration decided on a "Planned Usage" of only $ 100 million ($ 1,020 million today) of these funds. The Department of Defense subsequently presented data to Congress that
12000-473: The reconnaissance and strike mission was "crazy" since the nuclear mission was to attack known production and military complexes, and emphasized that he saw no need for the B-70 since the ICBM is "a cheaper, more effective way of doing the same thing". Eisenhower also identified that the B-70 would not be in manufacturing until "eight to ten years from now" and "said he thought we were talking about bows and arrows at
12125-746: The resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. Von Axthelm published his concerns in 1942, and the subject saw serious consideration for the first time; initial development programs for liquid- and solid-fuel rockets became part of the Flak Development Program of 1942. By this point serious studies by the Peenemünde team had been prepared, and several rocket designs had been proposed, including 1940's Feuerlilie , and 1941's Wasserfall and Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling . None of these projects saw any real development until 1943, when
12250-532: The same conclusions as the Germans regarding flak, the U.S. Army started its Project Nike developments in 1944. Led by Bell Labs , the Nike Ajax was tested in production form in 1952, becoming the first operational SAM system when it was activated in March 1954. Concerns about Ajax's ability to deal with formations of aircraft led to greatly updated version of the same basic design entering service in 1958 as
12375-426: The shock originating at the intake splitter to reflect from the vertical tip surface giving additional compression lift. Like a number of other delta-wing aircraft designed for supersonic speeds (Concorde, Tu-144, FD2), the Valkyrie needed a feature to improve the pilot's view during nose-high low-speed flight and on the ground. An outer windshield and ramp, which could be lowered, was provided enabling viewing through
12500-459: The size of the AAA weapons needed to reach those altitudes. As early as 1942, German flak commanders had already concluded that AAA would be essentially useless against jet aircraft, and began development of guided missiles to fill this role. Most forces reached the same conclusion soon afterwards, with both the US and UK starting missile development programs before the war ended. The UK's Green Mace
12625-418: The smallest to the largest generally include identified as friend or foe (IFF) systems to help identify the target before being engaged. While IFF is not as important with MANPADs, as the target is almost always visually identified prior to launch, most modern MANPADs do include it. Long-range systems generally use radar systems for target detection, and depending on the generation of system, may "hand off" to
12750-414: The start of crewed bomber use. Through that same period, only two weapons proved effective against bombers: fighter aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery (AAA). Flying higher and faster made it more difficult for both; higher speeds allowed the bomber to fly out of range of the weapons more quickly, while higher altitudes increased the time needed for fighters to climb to the bombers, and greatly increased
12875-554: The start, the large scale bomber raids of 1944 would have been impossible. The British developed unguided antiaircraft rockets (operated under the name Z Battery ) close to the start of World War II , but the air superiority usually held by the Allies meant that the demand for similar weapons was not as acute. When several Allied ships were sunk in 1943 by Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz X glide bombs , Allied interest changed. These weapons were released from stand-off distances, with
13000-406: The time needed to get the pilot into the cockpit of a fighter. Guidance did not require wide-area tracking or calculation of an intercept course: a simple comparison of the time needed to fly to the altitude of the target returned the required deflection . Missiles also had greater altitude capability than any aircraft and improving this to adapt to new aircraft was a low-cost development path. The US
13125-459: The time, nuclear weapons weighed several tons, and the need to carry enough fuel to fly that payload from the continental United States to the Soviet Union demanded large bombers. Boeing and RAND also concluded that the aircraft would need supersonic speed to escape the blast of its bombs. The aviation industry had been studying this problem for some time. From the mid-1940s, there was interest in using nuclear-powered aircraft as bombers. In
13250-460: The upper hand. By the time of Operation Linebacker II in 1972, the Americans had gained critical information about the performance and operations of the S-75 (via Arab S-75 systems captured by Israel), and used these missions as a way to demonstrate the capability of strategic bombers to operate in a SAM saturated environment. Their first missions appeared to demonstrate the exact opposite, with
13375-544: The war, The Soviet Union supplied 7,658 SAMs to North Vietnam, and their defense forces conducted about 5,800 launches, usually in multiples of three. By the war's end, the U.S lost a total of 3,374 aircraft in combat operations. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 5.6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. The S-75 missile system significantly improved
13500-404: The wing leading edge inboard of the folding tips to improve subsonic handling and reduce supersonic drag. The outer portions of the wings were hinged to pivot downward by 65 degrees, acting as a type of variable-geometry wingtip device . This increased the aircraft's directional stability at supersonic speeds, shifted the center of pressure to a more favorable position at high speeds, and caused
13625-477: Was a closely held secret until 1955. Early versions of the missile were available for purchase as early as 1952, but never entered operational service. The RSD 58 used beam riding guidance, which has limited performance against high-speed aircraft, as the missile is unable to "lead" the target to a collision point. Examples were purchased by several nations for testing and training purposes, but no operational sales were made. The Soviet Union began development of
13750-659: Was an early example that was designed specifically to replace the Bofors 40 mm gun on its mount, and became the first operational point-defense SAM. The American RIM-7 Sea Sparrow quickly proliferated into a wide variety of designs fielded by most navies. Many of these are adapted from earlier mobile designs, but the special needs of the naval role has resulted in the continued existence of many custom missiles. As aircraft moved ever lower, and missile performance continued to improve, eventually it became possible to build an effective man-portable anti-aircraft missile. Known as MANPADS ,
13875-683: Was aware of Soviet work in the field, and had reduced the expected operational lifetime of the U-2, knowing that it would become vulnerable to these missiles as they were improved. In 1960, a U-2 flown by Gary Powers was shot down by one of the earliest Soviet guided air-defence missiles, the S-75 Dvina , known in the west as the SA-2 Guideline. Faced with this problem, military doctrine had already started shifting away from high-altitude supersonic bombing toward low-altitude penetration . Radar
14000-473: Was completed on 15 October 1964. The manufacture of the third prototype (AV-3) was canceled in July 1964 before completion. The first XB-70 carried out its maiden flight in September 1964 and many more test flights followed. The data from the XB-70 test flights and aerospace materials development were used in the later B-1 bomber program , the American supersonic transport (SST) program, and via espionage,
14125-554: Was depleted before a supersonic dash to the target. The tanks also included the outer portions of the wing, which would also be jettisoned to produce a smaller wing suitable for supersonic speeds. Both became trapezoidal wings after ejection, at that time the highest performance planform known. They also featured flush cockpits to maintain the highest fineness ratio possible in spite of its effects on visibility. The two designs had takeoff weights of about 750,000 pounds (340,000 kg) with large fuel loads. The Air Force evaluated
14250-423: Was equipped with six General Electric YJ93 -GE-3 turbojet engines, which used JP-6 jet fuel, specially formulated for the mission requirements. The engine was stated to be in the "30,000-pound class", but actually produced 28,000 lbf (120 kN) with afterburner and 19,900 lbf (89 kN) without afterburner. The Valkyrie used fuel for cooling; it was pumped through heat exchangers before reaching
14375-484: Was establishing itself as a preferred planform for supersonic flight, replacing earlier designs like the swept-wing and trapezoidal layouts seen on designs like the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and the earlier WS-110 concepts. Engines able to cope with higher temperatures were also under development, allowing for sustained supersonic speeds. This work led to an interesting discovery: when an engine
14500-461: Was found to suffer from weaknesses in the honeycomb panels, primarily due to inexperience with fabrication and quality control of this new material. On two occasions, honeycomb panels failed and were torn off during supersonic flight, necessitating a Mach 2.5 limit being placed on the aircraft. The deficiencies discovered on AV-1 were almost completely solved on the second XB-70, which first flew on 17 July 1965. On 3 January 1966, XB-70 No. 2 attained
14625-413: Was informed that the missile gap was an illusion. On 28 March 1961, after $ 800 million (equivalent to $ 8.2 billion today) had been spent on the B-70 program, Kennedy canceled the project as "unnecessary and economically unjustifiable" because it "stood little chance of penetrating enemy defenses successfully." Instead, Kennedy recommended "the B-70 program be carried forward essentially to explore
14750-513: Was later canceled in 1958 due to better options. In July 1955, six contractors were selected to bid on WS-110A studies. Boeing and North American Aviation submitted proposals, and on 8 November 1955 were awarded contracts for Phase 1 development. In mid-1956, initial designs were presented by the two companies. Zip fuel was to be used in the afterburners to improve range by 10 to 15 percent over conventional fuel. Both designs had huge wing-tip fuel tanks that could be jettisoned when their fuel
14875-452: Was later discovered that flying faster also made radar detection much more difficult due to an effect known as the blip-to-scan ratio , and any reduction in tracking efficiency would further interfere with the operation and guidance of fighters. The introduction of the first effective anti-aircraft missiles by the late 1950s changed this picture dramatically. Missiles could stand ready for immediate launch, eliminating operational delays like
15000-415: Was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a flak shell is fairly small, and the chance of delivering a "hit" is essentially a fixed percentage per round. In order to attack a target, guns fire continually while the aircraft are in range in order to launch as many shells as possible, increasing the chance that one of these will end up within the lethal range. Against
15125-457: Was one of the last attempts to develop a useful high-altitude AAA weapon, but its development ended in 1957. Interceptor aircraft with ever-improving performance remained the only effective anti-bomber weapons by the early 1950s, and even these were having problems keeping up with the latest designs; Soviet interceptors during the late 1950s could not intercept the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, despite its relatively low speeds. It
15250-517: Was optimized specifically for high speed, it burned perhaps twice as much fuel at that speed than when it was running at subsonic speeds. However, the aircraft would be flying as much as four times as fast. Thus its most economical cruise speed, in terms of fuel per mile, was its maximum speed. This was entirely unexpected and implied that there was no point in the dash concept; if the aircraft was able to reach Mach 3, it may as well fly its entire mission at that speed. The question remained whether such
15375-539: Was reduced to only the two pilots, as a navigator and a bombardier were not needed for this research role. The production order was reduced to three prototypes in March 1961 with the third aircraft to incorporate improvements from the previous prototype. The order was later reduced to two experimental XB-70As, named Air Vehicle 1 and 2 (AV-1 and AV-2). XB-70 No. 1 was completed on 7 May 1964, and rolled out on 11 May 1964 at Palmdale, California . One report stated "nothing like it existed anywhere". AV-2
15500-651: Was seen generally; in November 1943 the Director of Gunnery Division of the Royal Navy concluded that guns would be useless against jets, stating "No projectile of which control is lost when it leaves the ship can be of any use to us in this matter." The first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. In February, Friederich Halder proposed
15625-524: Was to fly lower, below the line-of-sight of missile's radar systems. This demanded very different aircraft, like the F-111 , TSR-2 , and Panavia Tornado . Consequently, SAMs evolved rapidly in the 1960s. As their targets were now being forced to fly lower due to the presence of the larger missiles, engagements would necessarily be at short ranges, and occur quickly. Shorter ranges meant the missiles could be much smaller, which aided them in terms of mobility. By
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