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57-631: The APG-69 offered a complete suite of air-to-air and air-to-ground modes. The air-to-air modes included velocity search for long-range wide-angle searches, track-while-scan, single target track and dogfight modes that automatically locked onto the closest target. The APG-69 was capable of guiding the AIM-7 Sparrow missile , making it the first of Emerson's offerings to reach production with beyond visual range capabilities. The air-to-ground modes included moving target search and track, and sea-surface-search modes. This United States Air Force article

114-496: A " poison pill " in the form of a major share price hike to dissuade the hostile bid, the result of which caused Burroughs to borrow much more funding than was anticipated to complete the bid. Certain internal divisions of Sperry were sold off after the merger, such as Sperry New Holland (1986, to Ford Motor Company , who in 1991 sold the Ford-New Holland line to Fiat ) and Sperry Marine (to Tenneco , in 1987, and

171-558: A better hit ratio and easier targeting of enemies at low altitude with ground-clutter confusion. It also received a new and more powerful engine and new control surfaces. These control surfaces were each independent of the others, giving the missile greatly improved maneuverability over the AIM-7E and the English Skyflash that still used dependent control surfaces. The PL-11 and HQ-6 are a family of Chinese missiles developed by

228-627: A larger warhead. Even this version had room for improvement, leading British Aerospace and the Italian firm Alenia to develop advanced versions of Sparrow with better performance and improved electronics as the BAe Skyflash and Alenia Aspide , respectively. The most common version of the Sparrow today, the AIM-7M , entered service in 1982 and featured a new inverse monopulse seeker (matching

285-451: A long pointed nose. Sparrow I was a limited and rather primitive weapon. The limitations of beam-riding guidance (which was slaved to an optical sight on single-seater fighters and to radar on night fighters) restricted the missile to attacks against targets flying a straight course and made it essentially useless against a maneuvering target. Only about 2,000 rounds were produced to this standard. As early as 1950, Douglas examined equipping

342-523: A major military contractor. From 1967 to 1973 the corporation was involved in an acrimonious antitrust lawsuit with Honeywell , Inc. (see Honeywell v. Sperry Rand ). In 1961, Sperry Rand was ranked 34th on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies in the United States. In 1977, Sperry Rand purchased Varian Data Machines so as to enter the minicomputer market. Varian would be renamed as

399-433: A portion of the illuminating signal via rearward-pointing waveguides . The comparison of these two signals enabled logic circuits to determine the true target reflection signal, even if the target were to eject radar-reflecting chaff . Related development Sperry Corporation Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of

456-477: A protracted development cycle the initial AAM-N-2 Sparrow entered limited operational service in 1954 with specially modified Douglas F3D Skyknight all-weather carrier night fighters. In 1956, they were joined by the McDonnell F3H-2M Demon and Vought F7U Cutlass fighter aircraft . Compared to the modern versions, the Sparrow I was more streamlined and featured a bullet-shaped airframe with

513-557: A wide variety of other gyroscope -based aviation instruments like autopilots , bombsights , analog ballistics computers and gyro gunsights . In the post-WWII era the company branched out into electronics, both aviation-related, and later, computers. The company was founded by Elmer Ambrose Sperry . The company was incorporated on April 14 1910 by Elmer Ambrose Sperry as the Sperry Gyroscope Company , to manufacture navigation equipment—chiefly his own inventions:

570-625: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This technology-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This electronics-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . AIM-7 Sparrow The AIM-7 Sparrow (Air Intercept Missile ) is an American medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force , United States Navy , United States Marine Corps , and various other air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were

627-534: Is currently part of Northrop Grumman ). Also sold—to Honeywell —was Sperry Aerospace Group , while Sperry Defense Products Group was sold to Loral ; those two units whose functions were originally at the heart of the venerable Sperry Gyroscope division. This group is now part of Lockheed Martin . Sperry in Britain started with a factory in Pimlico , London, in 1913, manufacturing gyroscopic compasses for

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684-453: Is similar in most ways to the M versions, and was primarily an upgrade for existing M-series missiles. Changes were mainly to the software, improving low-level performance. A follow-on Block II upgrade added a new rear receiver allowing the missile to receive mid-course correction from the launching aircraft. Plans initially called for all M versions to be upgraded, but currently P's are being issued as required to replace M's lost or removed from

741-721: The AIM-7A and AIM-7B , despite both being out of service. The -6, -6a, and -6b became the AIM-7C , AIM-7D , and AIM-7E respectively. 25,000 AIM-7Es were produced and saw extensive use during the Vietnam War , where its performance was considered disappointing. The mixed results were a combination of reliability problems (exacerbated by the tropical climate), limited pilot training in fighter-to-fighter combat, and restrictive rules of engagement that generally prohibited BVR (beyond visual range) engagements. The P k (kill probability) of

798-618: The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow program, Canadair (now Bombardier ) partnered with Douglas Aircraft Company in the development of the Sparrow II (AAM-N-3/AIM-7B). After Douglas dropped out of this program, Canadair continued on with it until the termination of the Arrow project. The AAM-N-3 Sparrow II was unique in that it had a fully active radar guidance system. This combined both a radar transmitter and receiver in

855-559: The British Aerospace brand. State of the art, high technology MEMS gyroscopes (together with other avionics equipment) are still made on the site today, although the company is now owned by United Technologies Corporation and is part of UTC Aerospace Systems . The name Sperry lives on in the company Sperry Marine , headquartered in New Malden , England. This company, formed in 1997, from three well-known brand names in

912-681: The F5D Skylancer interceptor . It was later selected, with some controversy, to be the primary weapon for the Canadian Avro Arrow supersonic interceptor, along with the new Astra fire-control system. For Canadian use and as a second source for US missiles, Canadair was selected to build the missiles in Quebec . The small size of the missile forebody and the K-band AN/APQ-64-radar limited performance, and it

969-601: The Lawrence Sperry Aircraft Company , including the new automatic pilot . After the death of Lawrence on December 13, 1923, the two firms were brought together in 1924. Then in January 1929 it was acquired by North American Aviation , who reincorporated it in New York as the Sperry Gyroscope Company, Inc . The company once again became independent in 1933 when it was spun-off as a subsidiary of

1026-631: The Royal Air Force (RAF) on their Phantom FG.1/FGR.2 in 1978, and later on the Tornado F3 . Skyflash was also exported to Sweden for use on their Viggen fighters. An upgraded version with active radar seeker, called Active Sky Flash , was proposed by BAe and Thomson-CSF , but did not receive funding because the RAF opted for other missiles. The Sparrow has four major sections: guidance section, warhead , control, and rocket motor (currently

1083-632: The Royal Navy . It became the Sperry Gyroscope Co Ltd in 1915. In 1923, Lawrence Sperry was killed in an air crash near Rye, Sussex . The company subsequently expanded to the Golden Mile , Brentford in 1931, Stonehouse , Gloucestershire in 1938, and Bracknell in 1957. By 1963, these sites employed some 3,500 people. The Brentford site closed in 1967, with the expansion of Bracknell. Stonehouse closed around 1969. By 1969,

1140-404: The 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs Corporation , which merged the combined operation under the new name Unisys . Some of Sperry's former divisions became part of Honeywell , Lockheed Martin , Raytheon Technologies , and Northrop Grumman . The company is best known as the developer of the artificial horizon and

1197-568: The AAM-N-6a being capable of firing on only targets with 300 ft/sec closing velocity, and AAM-N-6b being capable of firing on targets with a 300 knot opening velocity (-300 knot closing velocity or higher). During this year the Air Force and Navy agreed on standardized naming conventions for their missiles. The Sparrows became the AIM-7 series. The original Sparrow I and aborted Sparrow II became

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1254-515: The AIM-7E was less than 10%; US fighter pilots shot down 59 aircraft out of the 612 Sparrows fired. Of the 612 AIM-7D/E/E-2 missiles fired, 97 (or 15.8%) hit their targets, resulting in 56 (or 9.2%) kills. Two kills were obtained beyond visual range. In 1969, an improved version, the E-2, was introduced with clipped wings and various changes to the fuzing. Considered a "dogfight Sparrow", the AIM-7E-2

1311-491: The Hercules MK-58 solid-propellant rocket motor). It has a cylindrical body with four wings at mid-body and four tail fins. Although the external dimensions of the Sparrow remained relatively unchanged from model to model, the internal components of newer missiles represent major improvements, with vastly increased capabilities. The warhead is of the continuous-rod type. As with other semi-active radar guided missiles,

1368-564: The Remington Rand acquisition, Sperry Gyroscope decided to open a facility that would almost exclusively produce its marine instruments. After considerable searching and evaluation, a plant was built in Charlottesville, Virginia , and in 1956, Sperry Piedmont Division began producing marine navigation products. It was later renamed Sperry Marine . In the 1970s, Sperry Corporation was a traditional conglomerate headquartered in

1425-641: The Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology, largely based on the Italian Aspide version of the Sparrow missile. The Soviet Union acquired an AIM-7 in 1968 and a Vympel team started copying it as the K-25 . The missile did not enter production as the R-23 was thought to have better versatility, range, signal processing logic, and immunity to interference. K-25 work ended in 1971, but analysis of

1482-549: The Sparrow I, in 1951 Raytheon began work on a semi-active radar-homing version, the AAM-N-6 Sparrow III . The first of these weapons entered United States Navy service in 1958. The AAM-N-6a was similar to the -6, and included changes to the guidance electronics to make it effective at higher closing speeds. It was originally designed to take the Thiokol LR44-RM-2 liquid-fuel rocket motor, but

1539-742: The Sparrow was later used to inform the design of the Vympel R-27 , particularly the servomechanisms and movable wings. British Aerospace (BAe) licensed the AIM-7E2 technology in the 1970s, producing the Skyflash missile. Skyflash used a Marconi XJ521 monopulse seeker together with improvements to the electronics. It was powered by the Aerojet Mk52 mod 2 rocket engine (later by the Rocketdyne Mk38 mod 4). Skyflash entered service with

1596-414: The Sparrow with an active radar seeker, initially known as XAAM-N-2a Sparrow II , the original retroactively becoming Sparrow I . In 1952, it was given the new code AAM-N-3 . The active radar made the Sparrow II a "fire and forget" weapon, allowing several to be fired at separate targets at the same time. By 1955, Douglas proposed going ahead with development, intending it to be the primary weapon for

1653-647: The Sperry Gyroscope division of Sperry Rand Corporation employed around 2,500. The site of the Bracknell factory and development center (sold to British Aerospace in 1982) is commemorated by a 4.5-meter aluminum sculpture by Philip Bentham , Sperry's New Symbolic Gyroscope (1967). In 1989, the Bracknell site was downsized and work was moved to the Sperry manufacturing site in Plymouth by then under

1710-619: The Sperry Rand Building at 1290 Avenue of Americas in Manhattan, selling typewriters (Sperry Remington); office equipment, electronic digital computers for business and the military (Sperry Univac); construction and farm equipment (Sperry New Holland); avionics, such as gyroscopes, radars, air route traffic control equipment (Sperry Vickers/Sperry Flight Systems); and consumer products such as electric razors (Sperry Remington). In addition, Sperry Systems Management (headquartered in

1767-566: The Sperry UNIVAC Minicomputer Operation, operating as part of the Sperry UNIVAC division. In 1978, Sperry Rand decided to concentrate on its computing interests, and sold a number of divisions including Remington Rand Systems, Remington Rand Machines, Ford Instrument Company and Sperry Vickers . The company dropped "Rand" from its title and reverted to Sperry Corporation . At about the same time as

AN/APG-69 - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-460: The West's principal beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile from the late 1950s until the 1990s. It remains in service, although it is being phased out in aviation applications in favor of the more advanced AIM-120 AMRAAM . The early Sparrow was intended primarily for use against larger targets, especially bombers, and had numerous operational limitations in other uses. Against smaller targets,

1881-403: The antenna, thereby sweeping the beam in a small cone. Signal processing is applied to determine the direction of maximum illumination, thereby developing a signal to steer the antenna toward the target. The missile detects the reflected signal from the target with a high-gain antenna in a similar fashion and steers the entire missile toward closure with the target. The missile guidance also samples

1938-400: The capabilities of Skyflash), active radar proximity fuse , digital controls, improved ECM resistance, and better low-altitude performance. It was used to good advantage in the 1991 Gulf War , where it scored many USAF air-to-air kills. Of 44 missiles fired, 30 (68.2%) hit their intended targets resulting in 24/26 (54.5%/59.1%) kills. 19 kills were obtained beyond visual range. The AIM-7P

1995-542: The company's first digital computer, SPEEDAC , in 1953. During the 1950s, a large part of Sperry Gyroscope moved to Phoenix , Arizona and soon became the Sperry Flight Systems Company. This was to preserve parts of this defense company in the event of a nuclear war . The Gyroscope division remained headquartered in New York—in its massive Lake Success , Long Island, plant (which also served as

2052-612: The decision was made to retain the solid fuel rocket motor. The -6a was also selected to arm the Air Force's F-110A Spectre ( F-4 Phantom ) fighters in 1962, known to them as the AIM-101 . It entered production in 1959, with 7500 being built. With an improved Rocketdyne solid-fuel motor, the AAM-N-6b started production in 1963. The new motor significantly increased the maximum range to 35 kilometres (22 mi) for head-on attacks. This new missile also improved tail-on performance, with

2109-515: The inventory. The final version of the missile was to have been the AIM-7R , which added an infrared homing seeker to an otherwise unchanged AIM-7P Block II. A general wind-down of the budget led to it being cancelled in 1997. The U.S. Navy planned to operate the missile through 2018. The Sparrow is now being phased out with the availability of the active-radar AIM-120 AMRAAM , but is likely to remain in service for several years. As part of

2166-604: The launching aircraft, but it also had many motor failures, erratic flights, and fuzing problems. An E-3 version included additional changes to the fuzing, and the E-4 featured a modified seeker for use with the F-14 Tomcat . Improved versions of the AIM-7 were developed in the 1970s in an attempt to address the weapon's limitations. The AIM-7F , which entered service in 1976, had a dual-stage rocket motor for longer range, solid-state electronics for greatly improved reliability, and

2223-637: The marine gyrostabilizer and the gyrocompass —at 40 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn . During World War I the company diversified into aircraft components including bomb sights and fire control systems . In their early decades, Sperry Gyroscope and related companies were concentrated on Long Island , New York, especially in Nassau County . Over the years, it diversified to other locations. In 1918, Lawrence Sperry split from his father to compete over aero-instruments with

2280-418: The missile does not generate radar signals, but instead homes in on reflected continuous-wave signals from the launch platform's radar. The receiver also senses the guidance radar to enable comparisons that enhance the missile's resistance to passive jamming. The launching aircraft illuminates the target with its radar. In 1950s radars, these were single-target tracking devices using a nutating horn as part of

2337-462: The missile, making it unnecessary for the pilot to keep the aircraft aimed at the target after firing the missile, unlike Semi-active radar homing (SARH) missiles which require continuous radar-assisted guidance throughout flight. This allowed the aircraft that fired the AAM-N-3 to turn away, prosecute other targets, and/or escape from potential retaliatory missiles fired by the enemy aircraft during

AN/APG-69 - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-515: The need to receive a strong reflected radar signal made it difficult to achieve lock-on at the missile's effective range. As the launching aircraft's own radar needed to be pointed at the target throughout the engagement, this meant that in fighter-vs-fighter combat the enemy fighter would often approach within the range of shorter-range infrared homing missiles while the launching aircraft had to continue flying towards its target. Additionally, early models were only effective against targets at roughly

2451-556: The newly formed Sperry Corporation . The new corporation was a holding company for a number of smaller entities such as the original Sperry Gyroscope, Ford Instrument Company , Intercontinental Aviation, Inc. , and others. The company made advanced aircraft navigation equipment for the market, including the Sperry Gyroscope and the Sperry Radio Direction Finder. It also moved into the hydraulics industry when it acquired Vickers, Inc. in 1937. Sperry supported

2508-690: The original Sperry Gyroscope building in Lake Success) performed work on a number of US government defense contracts. Sperry also managed the operation from 1961 to 1975 of the large Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant near Minden . In January 1972, Sperry took over the RCA Spectra 70 line of electronic digital computers (architectural cousins to the IBM System/360 ). In 1983, Sperry sold Vickers to Libbey Owens Ford (later to be renamed TRINOVA Corporation and subsequently Aeroquip-Vickers). At

2565-576: The program was cancelled with the cancellation of the Arrow. The Italian company Finmeccanica (now Leonardo S.p.A. ), Alenia Difesa licensed the AIM-7E Sparrow technology from the US, and produced its own version. Later in the 1980s, Alenia started to produce an improved version of the AIM-7 called the Aspide. Compared to the AIM-7E, it received an improved new monopulse guidance system that allowed for

2622-622: The same or higher altitudes, below which reflections from the ground became a problem. A number of upgraded Sparrow designs were developed to address these issues. In the early 1970s, the RAF developed the Skyflash version with an inverse monopulse seeker and improved motor, while the Italian Air Force introduced the similar Aspide . Both could be fired at targets below the launching fighter (" look-down, shoot-down "), were more resistant to countermeasures, and were much more accurate in

2679-694: The same time, it acquired the Aircraft Radio Corporation from Cessna . On September 16, 1986, after the success of a second hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs Corporation CEO and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury , Michael Blumenthal , Sperry Corporation merged with Burroughs Corporation. The newly merged company was renamed Unisys Corporation — a portmanteau of "united", "information", and "systems," while also referencing Sperry's well-known previous UNIVAC computer branding. The takeover came about even after Sperry used

2736-414: The temporary United Nations headquarters from 1946 to 1952)—into the 1980s. In 1955, Sperry acquired Remington Rand and renamed itself Sperry Rand . Acquiring then- Eckert–Mauchly Computer Corporation and Engineering Research Associates along with Remington Rand, the company developed the successful UNIVAC computer series and signed a valuable cross-licensing deal with IBM . The company remained

2793-534: The terminal phase. This basic concept then became part of the US Sparrows in the M model (for monopulse) and some of these were later updated as the P model, the last to be produced in the US. Aspides sold to China resulted in the locally produced PL-11 . The Japan Self-Defense Forces also employ the Sparrow missile, though it is being phased out and replaced by the Mitsubishi AAM-4 . The Sparrow

2850-584: The time it took for the Sparrow to reach its target. Despite the significant advantages of this design over SARH guidance, all subsequent models of the Sparrow use semi-active radar homing . To accommodate the active radar guidance system, the AAM-N-3 Sparrow II had a much greater volume than its predecessor. Its size would subsequently set the precedent for all future Sparrow variants. In 1959, Canadair had completed five missiles based on airframes from Douglas, and built two models from scratch, when

2907-536: The work of a group of Stanford University inventors, led by Russell and Sigurd Varian , who had invented the klystron , and incorporated this technology and related inventions into their products. The company prospered during World War II as military demand skyrocketed, ranking 19th among US corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. It specialized in high technology devices such as analog computer –controlled bomb sights, airborne radar systems, and automated take-off and landing systems. Sperry also

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2964-527: Was also used as the basis for a surface-to-air missile , the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow , used by a number of navies for air defense. Fired at low altitude and flying directly at its target, though, the range of the missile in this role is greatly reduced because of the higher air density of the lower atmosphere. With the retirement of the Sparrow in the air-to-air role, a new version of the Sea Sparrow

3021-533: Was initially dubbed KAS-1 , then AAM-2 , and — from 1948 on — AAM-N-2 . The airframe was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company . The diameter of the HVAR proved to be inadequate for the electronics, leading Douglas to expand the missile's airframe to 8-inch (203 mm) diameter. The prototype weapon began unpowered flight tests in 1947, and made its first aerial interception in 1952. After

3078-421: Was intended to be used at shorter ranges where the missile was still travelling at high speeds, and in the head-on aspect, making it much more useful in the visual limitations imposed on the engagements. Even so, its kill rate was only 13% in combat, leading to a practice of ripple-firing all four at once in hopes of increasing kill probability. Its worst tendency was to detonate prematurely about 1,000 feet ahead of

3135-459: Was never able to work in testing. After considerable development and test firings in the U.S. and Canada, Douglas abandoned development in 1956. Canadair continued development until the Arrow was cancelled in 1959. A subvariant of the Sparrow I armed with the same nuclear warhead as the MB-1 Genie was proposed in 1958 but was cancelled shortly thereafter. Concurrently with the development of

3192-452: Was produced to address this concern, producing the larger and more capable RIM-162 ESSM . The Sparrow emerged from a late-1940s United States Navy program to develop a guided rocket weapon for air-to-air use. In 1947 the Navy contracted Sperry to build a beam-riding version of a standard 5-inch (127 mm) HVAR , the standard unguided aerial rocket, under Project Hotshot . The weapon

3249-877: Was the creator of the Ball Turret Gun mounted under the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator , as commemorated by the film Memphis Belle and the poem The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner . In 1944, Sperry sold the Brooklyn factory at 40 Flatbush Avenue Extension to the Howard clothing manufacturing company, which already had a smaller nearby factory. Postwar, Sperry expanded its interests in electronics and computing, producing

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