The Matra M.04 was a French missile project that began development in Societe Matra in 1948. Intended either as an
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 ...
or a
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 to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
it was never adopted in service, although it was tested over the
Sahara
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
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in 1952.
Development
The
missile was first test-fired in flight from a
Halifax bomber in May 1950 at
Colomb-Bechar. The missile was large for an air-to-air missile, with two pairs of cruciform swept wings, with the smaller rear pair being moved using pneumatic actuation to provide steering. A SEPR acid/aniline rocket containing 110 kg of propellent provided 1,250 kg of thrust for 14 seconds, taking it to a speed of 490 meters per second.
The surface-to-air version was intended to have an additional tandem booster stage, and was designated the R.042 - and work continued on it until 1955.
References
Flight magazine, 28 January 1955*
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M.004
Matra