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76-695: VFAX was essentially the Navy counterpart to the Air Force's FX study which eventually led to the F-15 Eagle air superiority fighter. The F-111B had no rear visibility and was found to be too heavy and ungainly in a dogfight. It was not even slated to carry a simple gun or AIM-9 Sidewinder normally carried by air superiority fighters like the F-8 Crusader . Even the F-4 Phantom II did not achieve

152-403: A conventional construction. Like the wings, the leading and trailing edges were constructed of composite facesheets over honeycomb core. A composite speedbrake was located on top of the fuselage between the engines. The aircraft was powered by two 14,400-pound-force (64 kN) General Electric YJ101-GE-100 afterburning turbojets, installed next to each other to minimize thrust asymmetry in

228-588: A difference in temperatures detected and uses proportional guidance to achieve impact. Older variants such as the AIM-9B with uncooled seeker heads could only track the high temperatures of engine exhaust , making them strictly rear aspect. Later variants, however, featured liquid nitrogen coolant bottles in the launchers, allowing the missile to track any part of the aircraft heated by air resistance due to high speed flight, giving modern Sidewinders all-aspect capabilities. The nose canards provide maneuverability for

304-661: A fully forward wing at full afterburner. When accepted by the Navy after a competition, the VFAX and VFX would become the F-14 Tomcat , the first dedicated US Navy air superiority design since the F-8 Crusader. The F-14 would be tasked as the Navy's only primary air superiority fighter as well as FADF interceptor throughout its service life. Doctrine would strip the F-14 of any ground attack role until very late in its career, with

380-446: A gun for close-in fighting, and widely spaced engines for weapons carriage and survivability. Though as the first of a new generation of air superiority fighters, it would be criticized for not possessing the desired 1:1 combat thrust to weight ratio as was intended in the proposed upgraded F-14B and F-14C, it would prove to be competitive in training against a variety of competitors throughout its service life, especially at low speeds with

456-705: A new nose dome and superior optical filtering. Conversions were done to European AIM-9B to upgrade them to the FGW.2 standard. The official designation is the AIM-9B FGW.2 but it is known as the AIM-9F in US nomenclature. The AIM-9G was very similar to the AIM-9D in most aspects, and did not differ externally. The AIM-9G was an AIM-9D that used an improved AIM-9D seeker head with SEAM (Sidewinder Extended Acquisition Mode), this allowed

532-561: A participant in the LWF program. In August 1974, Congress directed the Navy to make maximum use of the technology and hardware of the LWF for its new lightweight strike fighter, the VFAX . As neither contractor had experience with naval fighters, they sought partners to provide that expertise. General Dynamics teamed with Vought for the Vought Model 1600 ; Northrop with McDonnell Douglas for

608-484: A radio proximity fuze could be used. These improvements were all added into AIM-9D and went into service with the USN. Around 1,000 AIM-9D units were produced from 1965 to 1969. The primary problem of the AIM-9D was breakup during launch. The AIM-9D was eventually developed into AIM-9G. ATM-9D (USN) : AIM-9D used for captive flight target acquisition training. GDU-1/B : AIM-9D used for firing practice. The AIM-9E "Echo"

684-467: A simple ranging-radar. The cockpit had an ejection seat inclined at 18°, a bubble canopy , and a head-up display (HUD). The thin wings carried no fuel, and in areas such as the leading and trailing edge and the LERX, were composed of a Nomex honeycomb core with composite facesheets. The rear of the aircraft had twin all-moving stabilators of aluminum over a honeycomb core, and twin vertical stabilizers of

760-580: A single vertical stabilizer was insufficient at high angles of attack, and it was changed to twin vertical stabilizers , canted at 45°, resulting in a "relaxed longitudinal stability" design, which enhances maneuverability. Northrop was not yet confident in fly-by-wire controls and retained mechanically actuated flight controls. The resulting aircraft, unveiled on 28 January 1971, had a maximum weight of 40,000 lb (18,144 kg) and maximum speed of Mach  2, but stirred little interest among foreign buyers. The first prototype ( serial number 72-1569 )

836-480: A very small 0.25:1 bypass ratio leading to the nickname "leaky turbojet". The bypass air was required for cooling the afterburner and nozzle and the cool bypass duct surface allowed the engine bay to be constructed of lighter, cheaper materials. The P-530 wing planform and nose section were similar to the F-5, with a trapezoidal shape formed by a sweep of 20° at the quarter-chord line, and an unswept trailing edge , but

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912-659: Is "very possible that the Sidewinder will remain in Air Force inventories through the late 21st century". The AIM-9 was a product of the US Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in the Mojave Desert . It features a lightweight, compact design with cruciform canards and tail fins. It uses a solid rocket motor for propulsion, similar to most conventional missiles, a continuous-rod fragmentation warhead , and an infrared seeker . The seeker tracks

988-680: Is a much improved version of the R-3S and has capabilities similar to the AIM-9G Sidewinder. The R-13M is still a tail engagement missile only but is far more capable than the R-3S due to its new seeker and rocket motor. The new cooled seeker is more accurate and somewhat more resistant to countermeasures. The new rocket motor burns longer and the redesigned body makes the R-13M more maneuverable. K-13M1/R-13M1 : Improved R-13M with new forward fins introduced in 1976. The lackluster performance of

1064-464: Is not guided by the actual position recorded by the detector, but by the change in position since the last sighting. So if the target remained at 5 degrees left between two rotations of the mirror, the electronics would not output any signal to the control system. Consider a missile fired at right angles to its target; if the missile is flying at the same speed as the target, it should "lead" it by 45 degrees, flying to an impact point far in front of where

1140-472: Is straightforward to implement and offers high-performance lead calculation almost for free and can respond to changes in the target's flight path, which is much more efficient and makes the missile "lead" the target. During World War II , various researchers in Germany designed infrared guidance systems of various complexity. The most mature development of these, codenamed Hamburg , was intended for use by

1216-546: The A-1 , A-4 and A-7 light attack, F-8 light, F-4 medium, and F-14 heavy fighters, RA-5C and RF-8 reconnaissance, KA-3 and KA-6 tankers, EA-6B jammers, and S-3 ASW aircraft, or just about all jet combat aircraft roles. AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder ("AIM" for "Air Interception Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile . Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and

1292-537: The Blohm & Voss BV 143 glide bomb in an anti-ship role. Hamburg used a single IR photocell as its detector along with a spinning disk with lines painted on it, alternately known as a "reticle" or "chopper". The reticle spun at a fixed speed, causing the output of the photocell to be interrupted in a pattern, and the precise timing of the resulting signal indicated the bearing of the target. Although Hamburg and similar devices like Madrid were essentially complete,

1368-596: The Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake , as an in-house research project conceived by William B. McLean . McLean initially called his effort "Local Fuze Project 602" using laboratory funding, volunteer help and fuze funding to develop what they called a heat-homing rocket. The name Sidewinder was selected in 1950 and is the common name of Crotalus cerastes , a rattlesnake , which uses infrared sensory organs to hunt warm-blooded prey. It did not receive official funding until 1951 when

1444-593: The United States Air Force 's Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program. The LWF was initiated because many in the fighter community believed that aircraft like the F-15 Eagle were too large and expensive for many combat roles. The YF-17 was the culmination of a long line of Northrop designs, beginning with the N-102 Fang in 1956, continuing through the F-5 family. Although it lost

1520-628: The Vietnam War , but had a low success rate (8% hit rate with the AIM-9E variant). This led to all-aspect capability in the L (Lima) version, which proved an effective weapon during the 1982 Falklands War and Operation Mole Cricket 19 in Lebanon. Its adaptability has kept it in service over newer designs like the AIM-95 Agile and SRAAM that were intended to replace it. The Sidewinder is

1596-515: The AIM-9, with the AIM-9X using thrust vectoring to augment this. The hot gases generated were used to actuate the nose canards in older models, while newer variants use thermal batteries . To minimize the amount of energy devoted to actuating control surfaces, the AIM-9 does not use active roll stabilization. Instead, it uses rollerons , small metal discs protruding out of the aft end of the tips of

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1672-725: The AIM-9B caused the Navy to look for successor. And in 1963 the AAM-N-7 Sidewinder IC was designed, It was developed in two variations: a SARH (semi-active radar homing) variant (AIM-9C) and an IR (AIM-9D) in 1963. The AIM-9C's semi-active radar was exclusively tied to the F-8 Crusader 's radar and fire control system (FCS). A total of around 1,000 AIM-9C missiles were launched from 1965 to 1967, but their usage in Vietnam war proved unsuccessful, downing no enemies. A filter modification program for reworked units (to allow high altitude capability up to 18,288m (60,000 feet) This

1748-415: The AIM-9B's sensor was a minuscule 4 degrees, So at launch, the pilot had to accurately aim the aircraft's sight over or above the target (to account for drag). The speed of the conical scan was very slow, additionally, the uncooled missile had a low sensitivity and was liable to extraneous heat. The AIM-9B was recommended for use on non-threatening targets (like bombers), only from behind (so it can lock on

1824-561: The AIM-9B, but is worse than the "D". The canard design was changed to a squared tip double delta planform, this helped improve canard behaviour at higher angles of attack (AOA). Over 5,000 AIM-9B's were rebuilt into AIM-9E's. The AIM-9E appeared in Vietnam after the conclusion of the Operation Rolling Thunder in 1968, with the U.S. Air Force (USAF), becoming one of their main missile armaments. Up until Operation Linebacker in 1972 intense air-to-air activity in Vietnam

1900-399: The Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants remain standard equipment in most Western-aligned air forces. The Soviet K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll"), a reverse-engineered copy of the AIM-9B, was also widely adopted. Low-level development started in the late 1940s, emerging in the early 1950s as a guidance system for

1976-494: The Chinese to send them one of the captured missiles. K-13/R-3 (AA-2) Variants : K-13/R-3 (Object 300) (AA-2 Atoll): It was the standard variant and entered limited service only two years later in 1960. K-13A/R-3S (Object 310) (AA-2A Atoll) : This entered service in 1962. The R-3S was the first version to enter widespread production, in spite of a very long seeker settling time around 22 seconds, as opposed to 11 seconds for

2052-579: The F-111B into an agile airframe with the same tried and proved components of the A-6 Intruder , such as the landing gear and primary attitude reference. It would have to be capable of defeating the Soviet MiG-17 'Fresco' and MiG-19 'Farmer' fighters encountered by Navy pilots after 1965 over Vietnam. After 1967, it would also have to defeat the next generation Soviet fighters as well. By 1966,

2128-726: The LWF competition to the F-16 Fighting Falcon , the YF-17 was selected for the new Naval Fighter Attack Experimental ( VFAX ) program. In enlarged form, the F/A-18 Hornet was adopted by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps to replace the A-7 Corsair II and F-4 Phantom II , complementing the more expensive F-14 Tomcat . This design, conceived as a small and lightweight fighter,

2204-526: The Navy had been persuaded that a single VFAX could meet the specification if it were large enough to carry the AWG-9/Phoenix weapons system. The VFAX was quickly dropped in favor of a hastily rewritten VFX specification which was largely built around the 303. The VFX, it was thought, was a better and cheaper alternative to a fleet of F-111B FADF (fleet air defence) dedicated interceptors and lighter fighter bombers. Needless to say, this greatly accelerated

2280-487: The Navy opted for a different approach after Walt Freitag, a USN engineer proposed a full change to solid-state in one missile. The "H" variant had major changes over the AIM-9D/G, which had multiple issues with reliability. One of the issues was the intolerance of the vacuum tubes to repeated 20ft/sec sink rate landings by US Navy aircraft on carrier decks. The "H" was the first Sidewinder to be fully solid state, replacing

2356-681: The Navy studied a swing wing version of the Air Force F-22, they opted not to develop a direct replacement of the F-14 Tomcat. The fire and forget capability of the new AMRAAM missile would give the Super Hornet much of the capability of the powerful, but old AIM-54 Phoenix system. Together with the F/A-18A and the anticipated retirement of other aircraft types, Hornets and Super Hornets will take on roles of aircraft since Vietnam of

VFAX - Misplaced Pages Continue

2432-480: The U.S. Navy (USN). RB24 : A Swedish AIM-9B Sidewinder. K-13/R-3 (AA-2) : The K-13/R-3 was a reversed engineered AIM-9B Sidewinder, A engagement on 28 September 1958 in the Taiwan strait resulted in a AIM-9B becoming lodged in a MiG-17 without exploding, allowing it to be removed after landing. The Soviets later became aware that the Chinese had at least one Sidewinder, and after some wrangling, were able to persuade

2508-473: The YF-17 competed against the General Dynamics YF-16 . The two YF-17 prototypes flew 288 test flights, totaling 345.5 hours. The YF-17 attained a top speed of Mach 1.95, a peak load factor of 9.4 g , and a maximum altitude of over 50,000 ft (15,000 m). It demonstrated a maximum angle of attack of 68 degrees at 28 kn IAS. Initially, the U.S. Navy was not heavily involved as

2584-513: The cannon moved from the underside of the fuselage, to the upper part. Design of the YF-17 and the prototype YJ101 engine, a development of the GE15 engine, consumed over a million man-hours, and 5,000 hours of wind tunnel testing. The YF-17 was primarily constructed of aluminum , in conventional semi- monocoque stressed-skin construction, though over 900 lb (408 kg) of its structure comprised graphite/epoxy composite. The small nose contained

2660-620: The designation AIM-9E-2 As the Sidewinder was being acquired by NATO forces, licensed production was given to West Germany and they would produce around 15,000 units. Like the Americans, the West Germans sought to improve the AIM-9B design due to its limitations. The only visible exterior difference is a greenish sensor window, but many tech improvements were added beneath the shell. Unnoticed improvements include solid state electronics (instead of vacuum tubes), carbon dioxide seeker cooling,

2736-589: The effort was mature enough to show to Admiral William "Deak" Parsons , the Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd). It subsequently received designation as a program in 1952. Originally called the Sidewinder 1 , the first live firing was on 3 September 1952. The missile intercepted a drone for the first time on 11 September 1953. The missile carried out 51 guided flights in 1954, and in 1955 production

2812-591: The engines at high angles of attack. The resemblance to the head of a cobra led to the adoption of the nickname "Cobra" for the P-530. When the Lightweight Fighter program was announced in 1971, Northrop modified the P-530 into the P-600 design that would be designated YF-17A. Whereas the P-530 was intended as a multi-role aircraft, the P-600 was to be strictly an air-to-air demonstrator, and consequently

2888-420: The event of an engine failure. To minimise engine removal time they were removed from below the aircraft without disturbing the empennage controls. Each engine drove an hydraulic pump for independent aircraft systems. Unlike the P-530, the YF-17 had partial fly-by-wire, called an electronic control augmentation system (ECAS), which used ailerons, rudders, and stabilators for primary flight control. Studies showed

2964-670: The fighter wouldn't get until the 1990s). The VFAX would later be folded into the USAF LWF lightweight fighter competition. The Navy would choose the loser of the USAF competition, the YF-17 . It was the product of a long evolution of the Northrop Cobra project, which was a radical redesign that used the wings and nose of the tiny F-5 Freedom Fighter as a design starting point. Attracted by the safety and growth potential of two engines, it

3040-464: The guidance and control sections of the early missiles. The NATO version of the first-generation missile was built under license in Germany by Bodenseewerk Gerätetechnik ; 9,200 examples were built. AIM-9A was a pre-production of the Sidewinder, first fired successfully in September 1953. Missile production began in 1955, and the first models entered the Navy's fleet service in 1956. Generally, it

3116-536: The internal Northrop project N-300. The N-300 was derived from the F-5E , and features a longer fuselage, small leading-edge root extensions (LERX), and more powerful GE15-J1A1 turbojets , rated at 9,000  lbf (40 kN). The wing position was raised slightly to increase ground clearance for ordnance. The N-300 further evolved into the P-530 Cobra, which uses 13,000 lbf (58 kN) GE15-J1A5 engines, with

VFAX - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-472: The internal wiring harnesses. These improvements facilitated a better 100 Hz reticle rate, and a 16.5 deg/sec tracking rate. The most significant design change was the addition of cooling for the PbS detector, adding Peltier (thermoelectric) cooling, giving the advantage of unlimited cooling when positioned on the launch rail, but is only active when electrical power is present. The AIM-9E gives greater range over

3268-604: The late 1940s a wide variety of missile projects were underway, from huge systems like the Bell Bomi rocket-powered bomber to small systems like air-to-air missiles. By the early 1950s, both the US Air Force and Royal Air Force had started major IR seeker missile projects. The development of the Sidewinder missile began in 1946 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), Inyokern, California, now

3344-597: The launcher, which the USAF did not use) ATM-9G (USN) : AIM-9G used for captive flight target acquisition training. Within December 1965, two designers McLean and LaBerge (who were employed by Philco-Ford) came together to create ways to improve the AIM-9G's reliability. One submission was to advance all the remaining missile electronic components from vacuum to solid-state gradually.The US Air Force adhered to this steady replacement of their AIM-9's to solid-state, however

3420-422: The missile automatically got pre-launch instructions. The conical scanning speed was also increased greatly. The seeker head was now able to seek in a 25˚ circular scan. This allowed the AIM-9G to have an improved chance of acquiring the target than earlier models. This, along with other upgraded solid-state modules, culminated in the AIM-9G. The improvement was substantial enough that an order of 5,000 AIM-9D seekers

3496-547: The modular Zuni rocket . This modularity allowed for the introduction of newer seekers and rocket motors, including the AIM-9C variant, which used semi-active radar homing and served as the basis of the AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radar missile . Due to the Sidewinder's infrared guidance system, the brevity code " Fox two " is used when firing the AIM-9. Originally a tail-chasing system, early models saw extensive use during

3572-541: The most widely used air-to-air missile in the West, with more than 110,000 missiles produced for the U.S. and 27 other nations, of which perhaps one percent have been used in combat. It has been built under license by Sweden and other nations. The AIM-9 has an estimated 270 aircraft kills. In 2010, Boeing won a contract to support Sidewinder operations through to 2055. Air Force spokeswoman Stephanie Powell said that its relatively low cost, versatility, and reliability mean it

3648-530: The need to cancel the now superfluous F-111B. When the final classifications of the VAFX/VFX was released it was composed of the following, with Air Superiority (Visual maneuvering close combat) as the first priority, ahead of FADF. In order to avoid being forced to accept the F-X specification then being developed by the USAF, the Navy insisted on an airplane uncompromised by the air superiority requirements. This

3724-458: The original vacuum tubes. The AIM-9H also included a new lead sulphide detector, using nitrogen cooling. The new guidance package was built using semiconductors. When the engineers redesigned these electronics, they essentially kept the AIM-9G's optical system, but the tracking rate increased further, from the original 12˚ to 20˚ degrees per second, this complementing the more powerful 120 lb.ft actuators that had been installed. They also replaced

3800-460: The original version. PL-2 : Chinese produced R-3S. A-91 : Romanian produced R-3S. K-13R/R-3R (Object 320) (AA-2B/C Atoll) : While the R-3S was being introduced in 1961, work started on a semi-active radar homing (SARH) version for high-altitude use, with 8 km range, similar to the little-used US Navy AIM-9C Sidewinder. This took longer to develop, and did not enter service until 1966. K-13M/R-13M (Object 380) (AA-2D Atoll) : The R-13M

3876-454: The other 7 were MiG-21s. This was due to the missile design and USN fighter pilot training at TOPGUN . The United States Air Force attempted to attain AIM-9Gs from the USN, due to bad experience with their AIM-9 Sidewinders models (B, E, and J), but they were incompatible with US Air Force's Sidewinder launchers due to the different cooling mechanisms. (the USN used a nitrogen gas container on

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3952-699: The primary air superiority role, along with most other jet combat, EW and tanker support types. Dogged by complaints that the F-18 lacked "legs" or range, the Navy later opted for the F/A-18E/F to replace the A-12 Avenger , which in turn was meant to replace the A-6 Intruder. While there were no precise reasons, the Navy and the Secretary of Defense opted to buy no more new Tomcats or its variants. While

4028-468: The retirement of the A-6 Intruder and Air Force deployment of the similar F-15E Strike Eagle . VFAX was revived in the 1970s when it was realized that although the F-14 was smaller than the F-111B, it was still a very large plane. It was a very expensive to replace all of the attack fighters and USMC F-4 Phantom IIs , which had passed on the Tomcat's cost and initial lack of ground attack capability (which

4104-588: The rocket motor was ignited. This same NPA was used in the AIM-9B Sidewinder as well. The AIM-9B is very similar to the AIM-9A, but the "B" has a more sophisticated rear and more aerodynamical front fins. The AIM-9B is a very limited weapon, but it had no serious competitors and counters when it was introduced, causing it to be adopted by the USAF and NATO as a standard weapon, with around 80,000 units being produced from 1958 to 1962. The viewing angle of

4180-584: The rods are scattered in a toroidal shape, ensuring that at least some portion of the shrapnel hits enemy aircraft. Newer models of the AIM-9 sought to increase the range that the seeker head's gimbal can turn, allowing the missile to track aircraft at greater angles from its direct line of sight, or boresight. Models such as the AIM-9L, AIM-9M, and AIM-9X feature high off-boresight capabilities, meaning they are able to track targets at high seeker gimbal angles, or highly distant from its boresight. The Sidewinder

4256-413: The slewing of the optics through a search pattern to acquire the enemy (most likely using a rosette scan ), it also allowed the slaving of the optics to a radar or helmet sight. This was connected to the onboard computer of the aircraft, which gave the capability of capturing the target using the data coming from the airborne radar. This meant that the target could be locked without being in the sights, and

4332-475: The success that the US enjoyed over Korean MiGs. It was thought that a mix of F-111B and lighter advanced fighter bombers could handle all anticipated threats in close and long range combat. As a company project, Grumman was well aware of the limitations of the F-111B, but their approach to the VFAX was the Grumman 303 design. It essentially transplanted the engines and AWG-9 / AIM-54 Phoenix weapons system of

4408-421: The tail fins which spin as the missile flies through the air, providing gyroscopic stabilization. The AIM-9 uses a passive infrared proximity fuze to detonate its warhead near an enemy aircraft, scattering shrapnel that aims to damage the aircraft, rendering it inoperable. The continuous rod warhead features rods welded together to form a cylindrical outer shell, with explosive filler inside. Upon detonation,

4484-420: The target was when it was fired. If the missile is traveling four times the speed of the target, it should follow an angle about 11 degrees in front. In either case, the missile should keep that angle all the way to interception, which means that the angle that the target makes against the detector is constant. It was this constant angle that the Sidewinder attempted to maintain. This " proportional pursuit " system

4560-618: The thermal battery with a turbo-alternator. The AIM-9H also included a continuous-rod bundle warhead, improving its destructive capability. The AIM-9H was the last and most manoeuvrable of the rear-aspect USN Sidewinders, with USN moving to the all-aspect AIM-9L. The AIM-9H was actually used at the very end of the Vietnam war, with it being introduced into the US navy service in 1972 and being used in Operation Linebacker . A total of around 7,700 AIM-9H units would be manufactured from 1972-1974 by Philco-Ford and Raytheon. The AIM-9H

4636-435: The thermal radiation from the target engines) and only with the sun behind or to the side of your aircraft (as the missile would lock onto it due to its thermal radiation). It was famously the first Sidewinder variant to be fired in anger as on 24 September 1958, it achieved the world's first successful kill with a air-to-air missiles, when Taiwanese F-86Fs shot down Communist Chinese MiG-15s using AIM-9Bs supplied and fitted by

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4712-454: The work of mating them to a missile had not been carried out by the time the war ended. In the immediate post-war era, Allied military intelligence teams collected this information, along with many of the engineers working on these projects. Several lengthy reports on the various systems were produced and disseminated among the Western aircraft firms, while a number of the engineers joined these companies to work on various missile projects. By

4788-442: Was a prototype production run, with 240 pieces being produced, and mainly intended for training pilots in air combat techniques. The AIM-9A was initially called the AAM-N-7 before the tri-service designation change in 1962. An interesting fact about the early AIM-9A & B was that a non-propulsive attachment (NPA) for their MK 15 motor was provided, assuming an assembled missile would be less dangerous to ground crew and material if

4864-444: Was able to create a design in which the FDAF and AS requirements did not significantly compromise each other. The F-14 would use a wing sweep program to optimize lift and drag at all combat speeds, twin tails for stability, greatly reduced weight through extensive use of titanium to achieve a better thrust to weight ratio than the F-4, a pancake fuselage for increased lift, a raised tandem cockpit for reduced drag and increased visibility,

4940-407: Was actually a code phrase which meant retaining the primary FADF capability of the relatively heavy Phoenix missile. If the F-14 was created to shoot down bombers, and it was not optimized for maneuvering air combat as the primary design goal, it has even been suggested that the F-14's extraordinary maneuverability is due to the accident of a low approach speed requirement. However, the Grumman design

5016-453: Was added for the fuze, being the first in the world. This enhanced the missile's head sensitivity. Maneuverability was also improved with a faster tracking rate, as well as a new actuator system. The Sidewinder's range was improved as well, with the new Hercules MK 36 solid-fuel rocket motor allowing the missile to fly up to 18km. Finally, a new Mk 48 continuous-rod warhead was fitted to the missile for increased damage; this also meant infrared or

5092-467: Was authorized. In 1954, the US Air Force carried out trials with the original AIM-9A and the improved AIM-9B at the Holloman Air Development Center. The first operational use of the missile was by Grumman F9F-8 Cougars and FJ-3 Furies of the United States Navy in the middle of 1956. Nearly 100,000 of the first generation (AIM-9B/C/D/E) of the Sidewinder were produced with Raytheon and General Electric as major subcontractors. Philco-Ford produced

5168-423: Was developed into the F/A-18 Hornet as the low end of a high low mix. Like the F-4 Phantom II, it would have conformal carriage for the radar guided AIM-7 Sparrow (and later AMRAAM ) missiles. In the 1990s, the original Cobra design would be stretched yet again into the heavier Super Hornet. The F/A-18E/F would be deemed by 2006 to have enough capability to replace its senior stablemate, the VFX F-14 Tomcat in

5244-550: Was not present. There were 71 AIM-9E launch attempts from January to October 1972, however, only 6 missiles managed to down an aircraft, with 1 other hitting an aircraft, but not causing complete destruction. Reasons for the poor success rate was listed as "poor air crew training, launches out of the envelope, the tactical situation, marginal tone, tone discrimination, the missile going ballistic, and other malfunctions". AIM-9E : Standard production model. AIM-9E-2 : Some "E" models are equipped with reduced-smoke rocket motors and have

5320-437: Was over double the area, with 400 sq ft (37 m ) as opposed to 186 sq ft (17.3 m ) of the F-5E. Initially shoulder mounted, the wings were lowered to the mid position. Its most distinctive new feature were the LERXs that tapered into the fuselage under the cockpit. They added about 50% additional lift at angles of attack exceeding 50°, improving maneuvering. The extensions also aligned airflow into

5396-495: Was rolled out at Hawthorne on 4 April 1974; its first flight at Edwards AFB came on 9 June with Henry "Hank" Chouteau at the controls flying for 61 minutes reaching an altitude of 18,000 feet and a maximum speed of 610 miles per hour. Chouteau afterwards remarked that, "When our designers said that in the YF-17 they were going to give the airplane back to the pilot, they meant it. It's a fighter pilot's fighter." The second YF-17 (s/n 72-1570 ) first flew on 21 August. Through 1974,

5472-667: Was scaled up to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet , which is similar in size and weight to the F-15 and ultimately replaced the F-14. A non-naval, export variant developed and marketed by Northrop, the F-18L failed to attract buyers; nevertheless, many air forces have operated the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 as a purely land-based fighter. The aircraft's main design elements date to early 1965, from

5548-526: Was stopped at 1,850 units, with the rest being ordered to AIM-9G seeker specifications instead. Around 2120 AIM-9G were built by Raytheon from 1970 to 1972. The AIM-9G would be used with its predecessor, the AIM-9D, during the Vietnam War, as the US Navy's choice of IR missile. A 46% hit rate with the AIM-9G during Operation Linebackers I and II in 1972 was achieved, of which 14 aircraft were MiG-17s and

5624-476: Was the basis for the all-aspect USAF/USN AIM-9L. ATM-9H : Was a training version of the AIM-9H for captive flight target acquisition. The AIM-9K was a planned U.S. Navy (USN) upgrade to the AIM-9H, but the development was abandoned in favour of USAF/USN joint AIM-9L. YF-17 The Northrop YF-17 (nicknamed "Cobra" ) was a prototype lightweight fighter aircraft designed by Northrop aviation for

5700-491: Was the first version developed solely by the U.S. Air Force (USAF). The AIM-9E allows the expansion of the weapons acquisition envelope, especially at low-altitude, increasing its Probability of Kill (P[k]). It achieved this using a new low-drag conical nose head, being a distinguishing feature of USAF Sidewinders. A magnesium fluoride seeker dome was introduced, along with a more compact optical assembly, an improved guidance control system, new electronics, and significant changes to

5776-428: Was the only planned modification. Recognizing the limitations of the initial AIM-9B, the US Navy (USN) worked to improve the missile's performance. They changed the missile nose to an aerodynamical ogival nose. The seeker was improved with a wider field of view beyond 25 degrees and a reduced instantaneous field of view of 2.5 degrees, to reduce foreign thermal interference (from flares). A better nitrogen cooling system

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