The AIM-97 Seekbat or XAIM-97A Seek Bat was a long-range
air-to-air missile
The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back)
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...
developed by the United States. It was intended to counter the perceived capabilities of the
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by the ...
and proposed to arm both the
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's ...
and
F-4 Phantom
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...
,
the missile ultimately never entered service.
Overview
In the early to mid-1970s the United States was highly concerned by the perceived capabilities of the MiG-25, an aircraft which was known to be capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3 and which carried long-range
air-to-air missiles
file:Python5-missile001.jpg, The newest and the oldest member of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Rafael's Python (missile), Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back)
An air-to-air miss ...
.
It was widely claimed that the Foxbat was a new generation "super-fighter", capable of comfortably outclassing any US or allied aircraft. The US initiated the F-15 Eagle program largely in response to this threat. To equip the F-15 the Air Force initiated development of the
AIM-82
The AIM-82 was a missile planned by the US Air Force but canceled before any prototypes were built.
Overview
In 1969 the USAF was developing the F-15 Eagle fighter. Planned as the ultimate air superiority aircraft, the F-15 was intended to be as ...
short-range missile and the AIM-97 Seekbat. The former was a
dogfighting
A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...
missile intended as a replacement for the
AIM-9 Sidewinder
The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...
, the latter was to be a new high-altitude long-range missile designed specifically to shoot down the MiG-25 - hence the name "Seekbat", the "bat" referring to the MiG-25's "Foxbat"
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...
.
The Seekbat was based on the
AGM-78 Standard ARM
The AGM-78 Standard ARM was an anti-radiation missile developed by General Dynamics, United States. It was built on the airframe of the RIM-66 Standard surface-to-air missile, resulting in a very large weapon with considerable range, allowing i ...
. It had a larger propulsion unit and used
semi-active radar homing
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range Air-to-air missile, air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is ...
with an infrared seeker for terminal guidance of the missile.
The operational ceiling was .
Test firings began in late 1972, but the Seekbat program did not make a great deal of progress and was cancelled in 1976.
By this time new knowledge of the MiG-25s capabilities and role led to the cancellation of the program because the missile's cost did not justify its procurement.
See also
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Brazo
The Brazo () missile was an American project of the 1970s, intended to produce an anti-radiation missile for air-to-air use. Developed by Hughes Aircraft and based on the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile, the Brazo underwent a series of successf ...
*
R-27 (air-to-air missile)
The Vympel R-27 (NATO reporting name AA-10 Alamo) is a family of air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union. It remains in service with the Russian Air Force, air forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States and air forces of many o ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aim-97 Seekbat
General Dynamics
Proposed weapons of the United States
Cold War air-to-air missiles of the United States
Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States