The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-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 ...
which entered service with the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has proved to be an enduring international success, and its latest variants remain standard equipment in most
Western-aligned air forces. The
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
K-13 (AA-2 'Atoll'), a
reverse-engineered
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...
copy of the AIM-9B, was also widely adopted by a number of nations.
Low-level development started in the late 1940s, emerging in the early 1950s as a guidance system for the modular
Zuni rocket
The Zuni 5-inch Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket (FFAR), or simply Zuni, is a unguided rocket developed by the Hunter-Douglas Division of Bridgeport Brass Company and deployed by the United States armed forces, and the French Air Force. The rocket was ...
. This modularity allowed for the introduction of newer seekers and rocket motors, including the AIM-9C variant, which 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 ...
and served as the basis of the
AGM-122 Sidearm
The AGM-122 Sidearm was an American air-to-surface anti-radar missile produced between 1986 and 1990. While not as capable as newer anti-radiation missiles, they were cheaper and lighter in weight allowing more versatile deployment.
Development ...
anti-radar missile
An anti-radiation missile (ARM) is a missile designed to detect and home in on an enemy radio emission source. Typically, these are designed for use against an enemy radar, although jammers and even radios used for communications can also be t ...
. Originally a tail-chasing system, early models saw extensive use during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
but had a low success rate. This led to all-aspect capabilities in the L version which proved to be an extremely effective weapon during combat in the
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
and the
Operation Mole Cricket 19
Operation Mole Cricket 19 ( he , מבצע ערצב-19, ''Mivtza ʻArtzav Tsha-Esreh'') was a suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) campaign launched by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) against Syrian targets on June 9, 1982, at the outset of the 1 ...
("Bekaa Valley Turkey Shoot") in Lebanon. Its adaptability has kept it in service over newer designs like the
AIM-95 Agile
The AIM-95 Agile was an air-to-air missile developed by the United States. It was developed by the US Navy to equip the F-14 Tomcat, replacing the AIM-9 Sidewinder. Around the same time, the US Air Force was designing the AIM-82 to equip their F-15 ...
and
SRAAM
The Short Range Air-to-Air Missile, or SRAAM for short, initially known as Taildog, was an experimental British infrared homing ("heat seeking") air-to-air missile, developed between 1968 and 1980 by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics. It was designed to b ...
that were intended to replace it.
The Sidewinder is 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 some other nations including
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
, and can even equip helicopters, such as the
Bell AH-1Z Viper
The Bell AH-1Z Viper is a twin-engine attack helicopter, based on the AH-1W SuperCobra, designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. Being one of the latest members of the prolific Bell Huey family, it is also c ...
. The AIM-9 is one of the oldest, lowest cost, and most successful air-to-air missiles, with an estimated 270 aircraft kills in its history of use.
When firing a Sidewinder,
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
pilots use the brevity code
FOX-2.
The United States Navy hosted a 50th-anniversary celebration for the Sidewinder in 2002.
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
won a contract in March 2010 to support Sidewinder operations through to 2055, guaranteeing that the weapons system will remain in operation until at least that date. Air Force Spokeswoman Stephanie Powell noted that due to its relatively low cost, versatility, and reliability it is "very possible that the Sidewinder will remain in Air Force inventories through the late 21st century".
Design
![proportional_navigation_example](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Proportional_navigation_example.svg)
The Sidewinder 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 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 is very easy 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.
History
Origins
![Heat-Homing Rocket on AD Skyraider c1952](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Heat-Homing_Rocket_on_AD_Skyraider_c1952.JPG)
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, various researchers in Germany designed infrared guidance systems of various complexity. The most mature development of these, codenamed ''Hamburg'', was intended for use by the
Blohm & Voss BV 143
The Blohm & Voss BV 143 was an early prototype rocket-assisted glide bomb developed by the German Luftwaffe during World War II.
Design
Blohm & Voss designers began to consider airborne missiles late in 1938, even before the outbreak of war. Fi ...
glide bomb
A glide bomb or stand-off bomb is a standoff weapon with flight control surfaces to give it a flatter, gliding flight path than that of a conventional bomb without such surfaces. This allows it to be released at a distance from the target rat ...
in the anti-shipping role. ''Hamburg'' used a single IR
photocell
Photodetectors, also called photosensors, are sensors of light or other electromagnetic radiation. There is a wide variety of photodetectors which may be classified by mechanism of detection, such as photoelectric or photochemical effects, or by ...
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, 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
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
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 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
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
had started major IR seeker missile projects.
![F104-AIM9](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/F104-AIM9.gif)
The development of the Sidewinder missile began in 1946 at the Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS), Inyokern, California, now the
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...
, as an in-house research project conceived by
William B. McLean
William Burdette McLean (1914–1976) was a United States Navy physicist, who conceived and developed the heat-seeking Sidewinder missile. The Sidewinder was the first truly effective air-to-air missile; its variants and upgrades are still in act ...
. 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
''Crotalus cerastes'', known as the sidewinder, horned rattlesnake or sidewinder rattlesnake,Wright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates. (7th printing, 1985). 1105 pp. . is a pit viper species belonging to the ...
'', a
rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...
, which uses infrared sensory organs to hunt warm-blooded prey.
It did not receive official funding until 1951 when the effort was mature enough to show to Admiral
William "Deak" Parsons, the Deputy Chief of the
Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959.
History
Congress established the Bureau in the Departmen ...
(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 the 11 September 1953. The missile carried out 51 guided flights in 1954, and in 1955 production 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 Cougar
The Grumman F9F/F-9 Cougar is a carrier-based fighter aircraft for the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Based on Grumman's earlier Grumman F9F Panther, F9F Panther, the Cougar replaced the Panther's straight wing with a more m ...
s 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 sub-contractors.
Philco-Ford
Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchased by Ford and, from 196 ...
produced 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.
Combat debut: Taiwan Strait, 1958
The first combat use of the Sidewinder was on September 24, 1958, with the
Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force, during the
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis
The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict that took place between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). In this conflict, the PRC shelled the islands of Kinme ...
. During that period of time,
ROCAF North American F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...
s were routinely engaged in air battles with the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
over the
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide.
The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
. The PRC
MiG-17s had higher altitude ceiling performance and in similar fashion to Korean War encounters between the F-86 and earlier MiG-15, the PRC formations cruised above the ROC Sabres, immune to their .50 cal weaponry and only choosing battle when conditions favored them.
In a highly secret effort, the United States provided a few dozen Sidewinders to ROC forces and an Aviation Ordnance Team from the U.S. Marine Corps to modify their aircraft to carry the Sidewinder. In the first encounter on 24 September 1958, the Sidewinders were used to ambush the MiG-17s as they flew past the Sabres thinking they were invulnerable to attack. The MiGs broke formation and descended to the altitude of the Sabres in swirling dogfights. This action marked the first successful use of air-to-air missiles in combat, the downed MiGs being their first casualties.
During the Taiwan Strait battles of 1958, a
ROCAF AIM-9B hit a
PLAAF
The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF; ), also known as the Chinese Air Force (中国空军) or the People's Air Force (人民空军), is an aerial service branch of the People's Liberation Army, the regular armed forces of the Pe ...
MiG-17
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-17; NATO reporting name: Fresco) is a high-subsonic fighter aircraft produced in the Soviet Union from 1952 and was operated by air forces internationally. The MiG-17 w ...
without exploding; the missile lodged in the airframe of the MiG and allowed the pilot to bring both plane and missile back to base. Soviet engineers later said that the captured Sidewinder served as a "university course" in missile design and substantially improved Soviet air-to-air capabilities. They were able to
reverse-engineer
Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...
a copy of the Sidewinder, which was manufactured as the
Vympel K-13
The Vympel K-13 ( NATO reporting name: AA-2 "Atoll") is a short-range, infrared homing air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union. It is similar in appearance and function to the American AIM-9B Sidewinder from which it was reverse-engine ...
/R-3S missile,
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 ...
AA-2 Atoll.
The Vympel K-13 entered service with Soviet air forces in 1960.
Vietnam War service 1965–1973
Performance of the 454 Sidewinders launched during the war was not as satisfactory as hoped. Both the USN and USAF studied the performance of their aircrews, aircraft, weapons, training, and supporting infrastructure. The USAF conducted the classifie
Red Baron Reportwhile the Navy conducted a study concentrating primarily on performance of air-to-air weapons that was informally known as the "
Ault Report
The ''Ault Report'', or more formally the ''Air-to-Air Missile System Capability Review'', was a sweeping study of US Navy air-to-air missile performance during the period of 1965 to 1968, conducted by Navy Captain Frank Ault. The study was initiat ...
". The impact of both studies resulted in modifications to the Sidewinder by both services to improve its performance and reliability in the demanding air-to-air arena.
Vietnam War AIM-9 claimed aerial combat kills
In total 452 Sidewinders were fired during the Vietnam War, resulting in a
kill probability Computer games, simulations, models, and operations research programs often require a mechanism to determine statistically how likely the engagement between a weapon and a target will result in a satisfactory outcome (i.e. "kill"), known as the prob ...
of 0.18.
Note: the speed of the B model was around 1.7 Mach and the other models above 2.5.
All-aspect variants
AIM-9L
![AIM-9L DF-ST-82-10199](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/AIM-9L_DF-ST-82-10199.jpg)
The next major advance in IR Sidewinder development was the AIM-9L ("Lima") model which was in full production in 1977.
[Bonds 1989, p. 229.] This was the first "
all-aspect An all-aspect air-to-air missile can track a target no matter which way the target faces relative to the missile. In other words, an all-aspect missile can be launched against a target not only in a tail-chase engagement, but also in a head-on engag ...
" Sidewinder with the ability to attack from all directions, including head-on, which had a dramatic effect on close-in combat tactics. Its first combat use was by a pair of US Navy
F-14s in the
Gulf of Sidra in 1981 versus two Libyan
Sukhoi Su-22s, both of the latter being destroyed by AIM-9Ls. Its first use in a large-scale conflict was by the United Kingdom during the 1982
Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...
. In this campaign the "Lima" reportedly achieved kills from 80% of launches, a dramatic improvement over the 10–15% levels of earlier versions, scoring 17 kills and 2 shared kills against Argentine aircraft.
AIM-9M
The AIM-9M is an improved AIM-9L having better background rejection and infrared countermeasures discrimination, and a low-smoke motor to reduce the visual signature of the weapon.
Deployed in large numbers during the
first Gulf war
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, the AIM-9M was responsible for all 10 Sidewinder kills recorded during that conflict.
BOA/Boxoffice
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is a United States military facility in California.
China Lake may also refer to:
Places in the United States
*China Lake, Kern County, California, an unincorporated community named for a nearby dry lake
*Chi ...
developed an improved compressed carriage control configuration titled BOA. "Compressed carriage" missiles have smaller control surfaces to allow more missiles to fit in a given space. The surfaces may be permanently "clipped", or may fold out when the missile is launched.
AIM-9X
Hughes Electronics
Hughes Electronics Corporation was formed in 1985 when Hughes Aircraft was sold by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to General Motors for $5.2 billion. The surviving parts of Hughes Electronics are today known as The DirecTV Group.
On June 5 ...
was awarded a contract for development of the AIM-9X Sidewinder in 1996 after a competition against
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...
for the next short-range aerial combat missile, though Raytheon purchased the defense portions of Hughes Electronics the following year. The AIM-9X entered service in November 2003 with the USAF (the lead platform was the
F-15C
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 the USN (the lead platform was the F/A-18C) and is a substantial upgrade to the Sidewinder family featuring an
imaging infrared
Infrared thermography (IRT), thermal video and/or thermal imaging, is a process where a thermal camera captures and creates an image of an object by using infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process, which are examples of infrared i ...
focal-plane array (FPA) seeker with claimed 90° off-boresight capability, compatibility with
helmet-mounted display
A helmet-mounted display (HMD) is a device used in aircraft to project information to the pilot's eyes. Its scope is similar to that of head-up displays (HUD) on an aircrew's visor or reticle. An HMD provides the pilot with situation awareness, ...
s such as the new U.S.
Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS), and a totally new two-axis thrust-vectoring control (TVC) system providing increased turn capability over traditional control surfaces (60Gs). Utilizing the JHMCS, a pilot can point the AIM-9X missile's seeker and "lock on" by simply looking at a target, thereby increasing air combat effectiveness. It retains the same rocket motor, fuze and warhead of the AIM-9M, but its lower drag gives it improved range and speed. The AIM-9X also includes an internal cooling system, eliminating the need for use of launch-rail nitrogen bottles (U.S. Navy and Marines) or internal argon bottles (USAF). It also features an electronic safe and arm device similar to the AMRAAM, allowing for a reduction in minimum range, and reprogrammable infrared
Counter Counter Measures
Electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) is a part of electronic warfare which includes a variety of practices which attempt to reduce or eliminate the effect of electronic countermeasures (ECM) on electronic sensors aboard vehicles, ships and ai ...
(IRCCM) capability that coupled with the FPA provides improved look down into clutter and performance against the latest
IRCM
An infrared countermeasure (IRCM) is a device designed to protect aircraft from infrared homing ("heat seeking") missiles by confusing the missiles' infrared guidance system so that they miss their target (electronic countermeasure). Heat-see ...
. Though not part of the original requirement, the AIM-9X demonstrated potential for
lock-on after launch
Lock-on after launch (LOAL) is an ability of missile systems to lock-on to a target after being launched from a carrier vehicle. The term is normally used in reference to airborne weapons, especially air-to-air missiles. LOAL is an important part ...
capability, allowing for possible internal use for the
F-35
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...
,
F-22 Raptor
The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...
and even in a submarine-launched configuration for use against ASW platforms. The AIM-9X has been tested for a surface attack capability, with mixed results.
Block II
Testing work on the AIM-9X Block II version began in September 2008. The Block II adds lock-on after launch capability with a datalink, so the missile can be launched first and then directed to its target afterwards by an aircraft with the proper equipment for 360-degree engagements, such as the F-35 or the F-22. By January 2013, the AIM-9X Block II was about halfway through its operational testing and performing better than expected.
NAVAIR
The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the successor to the ...
reported that the missile was exceeding performance requirements in all areas, including lock-on after launch (LOAL). One area where the Block II needs improvement is helmetless high off-boresight (HHOBS) performance. It is functioning well on the missile, but performance is below that of the Block I AIM-9X. The HHOBS deficiency does not impact any other Block II capabilities, and is planned to be improved upon by a software clean-up build. Objectives of the operational test were due to be completed by the third quarter of 2013. However, as of May 2014 there have been plans to resume operational testing and evaluation (including surface-to-air missile system compatibility). , Raytheon had delivered 5,000 AIM-9X missiles to the armed services. On June 18, 2017, after an AIM-9X did not successfully track a targeted
Syrian Air Force
)
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 16 October
, equipment =
, equipment_label =
, battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War
* Six-Day War
* Yom Kippur War
...
Su-22 Fitter
The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...
, US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mob” Tremel flying a F/A-18E Super Hornet used an
AMRAAM
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...
AAM to successfully destroy the enemy aircraft.
In February 2015, the U.S. Army successfully launched an AIM-9X Block II from the new
Multi-Mission Launcher
The Multi-Mission Launcher (MML) is an open-systems architecture multi-role missile launching system created by the United States Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center.
Development
The MML has its roots in ...
(MML), a truck-mounted missile launch container that can hold 15 of the missiles. The MML is part of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept (IFPC Inc. 2-I) to protect ground forces against
cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...
and
unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
threats. The AIM-9X Block II has been determined by the Army to be the best solution to cruise missile and UAV threats because of its passive imaging infrared seeker. The MML will complement the
AN/TWQ-1 Avenger
The Avenger Air Defense System, designated AN/TWQ-1 under the Joint Electronics Type Designation System, is an American self-propelled surface-to-air missile system which provides mobile, short-range air defense protection for ground units agains ...
air defense system and is expected to begin fielding in 2019.
Block III
In September 2012, Raytheon was ordered to continue developing the Sidewinder into a Block III variant, even though the Block II had not yet entered service. The USN projected that the new missile would have a 60 percent longer range, modern components to replace old ones, and an
insensitive munition
Insensitive munitions are munitions that are designed to withstand stimuli representative of severe but credible accidents. The current range of stimuli are shock (from bullets, fragments and shaped charge jets), heat (from fires or adjacent ther ...
s warhead, which is more stable and less likely to detonate by accident, making it safer for ground crews. The need for the AIM-9 to have an increased range was caused by
digital radio frequency memory
Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) is an electronic method for digitally capturing and retransmitting RF signals. DRFM systems are typically used in radar jamming, although applications in cellular communications are becoming more common.
O ...
(DRFM)
jammers
Jammer may refer to:
Signal blocking devices
* Radar jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception
* Radio jammer, a device used in radio jamming
* Radio-controlled Improvised Explosive Device jammer, a counter-IED device
* Mobile phone ...
that can blind the onboard radar of an
AIM-120D AMRAAM, so the Sidewinder Block III's passive imaging
infrared homing
Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...
guidance system was seen as a useful alternative. Although it could supplement the AMRAAM for beyond visual range (BVR) engagements, it would still be capable of performing within visual range (WVR). Modifying the AIM-9X was seen as a cost-effective alternative to developing a new missile in a time of declining budgets. To achieve the range increase, the rocket motor would have a combination of increased performance and missile power management. The Block III would "leverage" the Block II's guidance unit and electronics, including the AMRAAM-derived datalink. The Block III was scheduled to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) in 2022, following the increased number of
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide ele ...
Joint Strike Fighters to enter service. The Navy pressed for this upgrade in response to a projected threat which analysts have speculated will be due to the difficulty of targeting upcoming Chinese
fifth-generation jet fighter
A fifth-generation fighter is a jet fighter aircraft classification which includes major technologies developed during the first part of the 21st century. , these are the most advanced fighters in operation. The characteristics of a fifth-gene ...
s (
Chengdu J-20
The Chengdu J-20 (), also known as ''Mighty Dragon'' (), is a twinjet all-weather stealth fighter aircraft developed by China's Chengdu Aerospace Corporation for the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). The J-20 is designed as an air ...
,
Shenyang J-31
The Shenyang FC-31 Gyrfalcon ( zh, s=鹘鹰, p=Gǔ yīng), also known as the J-31 is a Chinese prototype mid-sized twinjet 5th-generation fighter aircraft developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC). The official nickname published by SAC ...
) with the radar-guided AMRAAM, specifically that Chinese advances in electronics will mean Chinese fighters will use their
AESA
Aesa or Aisa ( grc, Αἶσα) was a town of ancient Macedonia. Aesa belonged to the Delian League since it appears on a tribute list to Athens in 434/3 BCE. The editors of the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World identify Aesa wi ...
radars as jammers to degrade the AIM-120's kill probability. However, the Navy's FY 2016 budget cancelled the AIM-9X Block III as they cut down buys of the F-35C, as it was primarily intended to permit the fighter to carry six BVR missiles; the insensitive munition warhead will be retained for the AIM-9X program.
Sidewinder descendants
Anti-tank variant
![AIM-9L hits tank at China Lake 1971](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/AIM-9L_hits_tank_at_China_Lake_1971.jpg)
China Lake experimented with Sidewinders in the air-to-ground mode including use as an anti-tank weapon.
Starting from 2008, the AIM-9X demonstrated its ability as a successful light air-to-ground missile.
In 2016
Diehl closed a deal with the
to develop a laser guided Air-To-Ground variant of the Sidewinder missile based on the AIM-9L variant. In testing with the Swedish
Defence Materiel Administration
The Swedish Defence Materiel Administration ( sv, Försvarets materielverk, FMV) is a Swedish government agency that reports to the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for the supply of materiel to the Swedish defence organisation. It ...
a
Saab Gripen
The Saab JAS 39 Gripen (; English: ''griffin'') is a light single-engine multirole fighter aircraft manufactured by the Swedish aerospace and defense company Saab AB. The Gripen has a delta wing and canard configuration with relaxed stabilit ...
could hit one stationary and two moving targets.
On 28 February 2018, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveiled an anti-tank derivative of the Sidewinder missile named "Azarakhsh" intended for use by
Bell AH-1J SeaCobra
The Bell AH-1 SuperCobra is a twin-engined attack helicopter that was developed on behalf of, and primarily operated by, the United States Marine Corps (USMC). The twin Cobra family, itself part of the larger Huey family, includes the AH-1J S ...
attack helicopters.
Later developments
Larger rocket motor
Under the High Altitude Project, engineers at China Lake mated a Sidewinder warhead and seeker to a Sparrow rocket motor to experiment with usefulness of a larger motor.
Other ground launch platforms
In 2016 the AIM-9X was test fired from a
Multi-Mission Launcher
The Multi-Mission Launcher (MML) is an open-systems architecture multi-role missile launching system created by the United States Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development, and Engineering Center.
Development
The MML has its roots in ...
at the White Sands Missile Range in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
, USA. During testing with the MML, the AIM-9X experienced issues with overheating. These issues have since been resolved.
In September 2021, the U.S. Army signed a contract with
Dynetics
Dynetics is an American applied science and information technology company headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Its primary customers are the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Intelligence Community, and National Ae ...
to build prototypes for its Indirect Fires Protection Capability (IFPC), utilizing an MML-based launcher firing the Sidewinder to counter UAVs and cruise missiles. It is planned to be put into service in 2023.
In May 2019 the AIM-9X Block II was test fired from the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (
NASAMS
NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Ae ...
) at the
Andøya Space Center
Andøya is the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about inside the Arctic circle. Andøya is located in Andøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The main population centres on the island include the villages of ...
in Norway.
Operators
Current operators
* AIM-9L/M
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* AIM-9B/J/P/L/M
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Former operators
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
''Please note that this list is not definitive.''
See also
Comparable missiles
*
ASRAAM
The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), also known by its United States designation AIM-132, is an imaging infrared homing (heat seeking) air-to-air missile, produced by MBDA UK, that is designed for close-range combat. It is in s ...
*
A-Darter
The V3E A-Darter (Agile Darter) is a modern short-range infrared homing ("heat seeking") air-to-air missile, featuring countermeasures resistance with a 180-degree look angle and 120-degrees per second track rate, developed by South Africa's Den ...
*
IRIS-T
The IRIS-T ("thermography, InfraRed Imaging System Tail/thrust vectoring, Thrust Vector-Controlled") is a medium range infrared homing missile available in both air-to-air missile, air-to-air and ground defence surface-to-air missile, surface- ...
*
MAA-1 Piranha
The MAA-1 Piranha is a short-range infrared homing missile and the first air-to-air missile developed by Brazil for its Brazilian Air Force, Air Force and Brazilian Navy, Navy. It was designed to replace the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile in Brazilian s ...
*
MICA
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
*
R.550 Magic
The R.550 Magic (backronym for ''Missile Auto-Guidé Interception et Combat'') is a short-range air-to-air missile designed in 1968 by French company Matra to compete with the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, and it was made backwards compatible with t ...
*
Red Top
*
Firestreak
The de Havilland Firestreak is a British first-generation, passive infrared homing (heat seeking) air-to-air missile. It was developed by de Havilland Propellers (later Hawker Siddeley) in the early 1950s, entering service in 1957. It was the fir ...
*
PL-9
The PL-9 () is a short-range, infrared-homing air-to-air missile (AAM) developed by the People's Republic of China.
History
The PL-9 program was initiated in 1986. The missile entered batch production in 1989. Two improved variants, PL-9B and P ...
*
Python 5
The Rafael Python is a family of air-to-air missiles (AAMs) built by the Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, formerly RAFAEL Armament Development Authority. Originally starting with the ''Shafrir'' ( he, שפריר, loos ...
*
R-73
*
Shafrir
*
Fatter
Fatter ( fa, فاطر, lit=Creator) is an Iranian short-range air-to-air missile based on the U.S.-built AIM-9 Sidewinder missile.
Development
Fatter is a short range missile which uses an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile body and Iranian avionics. In ...
*
AAM-1
The Mitsubishi AAM-1 was a Japanese infrared homing air-to-air missile developed from the AIM-9B Sidewinder missile.
Operational history
Starting in 1969, the AAM-1 was produced by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, with around 400 produced in tota ...
/
3/
5
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Babcock, Elizabeth (1999). ''Sidewinder – Invention and Early Years.'' The China Lake Museum Foundation. 26 pp. A concise record of the development of the original Sidewinder version and the central people involved in its design.
* Bonds, Ray ed. ''The Modern US War Machine''. New York City: Crown Publishers, 1989. .
*
*
*
*
*
*
* McCarthy, Donald J. Jr. ''MiG Killers, A Chronology of U.S. Air Victories in Vietnam 1965–1973''. 2009, Specialty Press, North Branch, MN, U.S.A.
* Michel III, Marshall L. ''Clashes, Air Combat Over North Vietnam 1965–1972.'' 1997. .
* Westrum, Ron (1999). "''Sidewinder—Creative missile development at China Lake."'' Naval Institute Press.
External links
*
Defense Industry Daily – AIM-9X Block II: The New Sidewinder MissileEncyclopædia Britannicaon GlobalSecurity.org
*
ttp://www.ausairpower.net/TE-Sidewinder-94.html The Sidewinder StorySidewinderat Howstuffworks.com
NAMMO Raufoss – Nordic Ammunition Company*
*
from ''Aviation History'' magazine, March 2013. Includes photos & video
Italy signs up for Aim-9x
{{Authority control
Cold War air-to-air missiles of the United States
Raytheon Company products
Military equipment introduced in the 1950s
Infrared technology
Fire-and-forget weapons