The R.511 was a French

air-to-air missile An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid-fuel roc ...

, developed by Matra, based on their work with the Matra M.04 (R.042) and R.05. The first version of the missile, the R.510, was infra-red guided, and while accurate had very limited operating parameters. The missile was superseded by the far more capable R.530 in French service, although continued to be used in training units until 1976.

Description

The R.510 was optically guided by a PbS infra-red photocell with a 20° field of view. Testing of the R.510 began at the CIEES missile range near Colomb-Béchar and Hammaguir,

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, in October 1952, and a limited production run of 100 missiles was ordered. However the PbS seeker was insensitive and could only effectively track targets at night. The R.511 entered service in 1957, replacing the R.510. The R.511 used a Thompson-CSF

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 and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive dete ...

head which was tuned to home on to reflections of the launch aircraft's radar; its antenna scanned conically 8° off the boresight of the missile at a rate of 225 revolutions per second. For longer range firing, guidance commands were transmitted directly to the missile via an antenna on the trailing edge of the missile's wing. Limitations of the launch aircraft's radar restricted operation to above . The missile could pull 12g while travelling at Mach 1 at .Flight, 6 November 1959
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Variants

;R.510: An

infra-red Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those of ...

homing missile with a PbS (lead sulphide) seeker head. The R.510 was produced in limited numbers for research only. ;R.511: A passive radar guided missile, homing on to reflections of the launch aircraft's radar. The R.511 was used operationally on the Sud Aviation Vautour IIN and Dassault Mirage IIIC.

References

;Bibliography * * {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 R.511 Matra Military equipment introduced in the 1950s