Air to Air Missiles

[lobbie111]

Is anyone here well acquainted with different types of Air to air missiles, i am referring more to short range missiles such as the AIM-9X, the IRIS-T and the AIM-123 (ASRAAM) and the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer).

Could anyone give me a comparison in terms of capabilities and differences. I know that all of these missiles are similar so it would be interesting to see what everyone has to say.

[contedicavour]

You can add the MICA-IR.

You'll find most answers on google, wikipedia, and the builders' internet sites.

However in a couple of sentences, the short range missiles are mostly infrared fire and forget. In the last decade Russia has actually been superior with longer range R73/AA11 capable of changing trajectory 180° and with a range in excess of anything the West had. France is also ahead with 50-70km range MICA IR. The rest of the West is catching up with similar performance IRIS-T entering service now in small batches and the latest of the AIM9 family.

cheers

[weasel1962]

Deleted

[Oryx]

You can add the MICA-IR.


And A-Darter...

[weasel1962]

Deleted

[eaf-f16]

Why not the Pythons/Shafrir, China's PLs, Japan's AAM-3, France's other matras, Brazil's Piranha?

I thought China's short-range missile is a licensed produced version of Israel's Python 3.

[tphuang]

I thought China's short-range missile is a licensed produced version of Israel's Python 3.
they've made a lot of modifications to PL-8 and it's much better than Python 3. Also, they have PL-9C, which is not related to python 3.

[Scorpion82]

Why not the Pythons/Shafrir, China's PLs, Japan's AAM-3, France's other matras, Brazil's Piranha?

I think we speak about latest IR guided short range missiles. Some of the weapons you listed don't belong to that list.

[weasel1962]

Deleted

[sunjerem]

Isn't AIM-132 ASRAAM from USA? If so, does US use it?

[kato]

Isn't AIM-132 ASRAAM from USA? If so, does US use it?

ASRAAM is a joint UK/French (BAe/Matra) development. The ASRAAM has a US Designation because it stemmed from a project that would develop a successor to the AIM-9. The USA along with the other partners pulled out of the program in 1990, leaving only the UK to develop it.

[swerve]

ASRAAM is a joint UK/French (BAe/Matra) development. The ASRAAM has a US Designation because it stemmed from a project that would develop a successor to the AIM-9. The USA along with the other partners pulled out of the program in 1990, leaving only the UK to develop it.

Exactly. The plan was that the USA would develop an active-radar medium-range AAM, & European countries would develop a IR-homing short-range AAM, & everyone would buy both. Germany & the UK disagreed about the requirements for the short-range AAM to be developed (hence Asraam & IRIS-T being both developed), & the USA decided to buy neither, but develop the AIM-9X instead. Meanwhile, the UK & Italy had dropped their own AMRAAM equivalents (IIRC the Swedes were in on the UK project) so everyone over here except the French was stuck with having to buy a foreign active-radar AAM, with no reciprocal purchase of their IR AAMs.

Here is the manufacturers web page on Asraam -
http://www.mbda-systems.com/mbda/site/FO/scripts/siteFO_contenu.php?lang=EN&noeu_id=121

[sunjerem]

Oh, I see. The AIM-132 is mach 3.5, faster than AIM-9X?

[Mobius117]

Oh, I see. The AIM-132 is mach 3.5, faster than AIM-9X?

Yes, by an entire Mach mark, although at close range combat (where an passive infrared missile will be used), the AIM-9X's Mach 2.5 velocity will be more than adequate to hit a target likely to be manuevering at a subsonic velocity or escaping at transonic or low supersonic speeds.

In addition (to my knowledge), the ASRAAM, AIM-9X, and IRIS-T all use the same Raytheon seeker head and as such all boast lock-on after launch capability, off boresight targeting, and thrust vectoring control.

[thorpete1]

What are the ranges of the AIM-123, IRiS-T and AIM-9X?

[weasel1962]

Deleted

[Scorpion82]

In addition (to my knowledge), the ASRAAM, AIM-9X, and IRIS-T all use the same Raytheon seeker head and as such all boast lock-on after launch capability, off boresight targeting, and thrust vectoring control.

That's not fully correct. The IRIS-T uses another seeker developed by Diehl BGT Defence of Germany, but the seeker has similar capabilities. ASRAAM does not feature TVC.

[kato]

The IRIS-T uses another seeker developed by Diehl BGT Defence of Germany, but the seeker has similar capabilities.

In fact the "IRIS" part of the name is the seeker (T is for TVC). Diehl also - in the beginning - marketed the IRIS seeker as a standalone AIM-9 upgrade, although generally has only sold it as part of the IRIS-T combination. Diehl's LFK NG might use a modified/upgraded version of the IRIS seeker.

[Mercurius]

The ‘brochure’ ranges for air-to-air missiles are of limited use, since no engagement conditions are quoted.

But for what they are worth, the range figures for the missiles under discussion are

ASRAAM – 20km
AIM-9X – 10km
A-Darter – 20km
IRIS-T – 12km
Python 4 – 15km
Python 5 – 20km

The speed of Mach 2.5 mentioned for AIM-9X may be a little on the slow side, given its low-drag configuration, while Mach 3.5 is in the correct ballpark for ASRAAM. Trials footage of ASRAAM seeker imagery show strong dome-heating effects and at one time the designers had a backup plan to add dome cooling should this have proved necessary.

Mercurius Cantabrigiensis

[Scorpion82]

According a Lw article from late 2005 about the introduction of the IRIS-T into service, the range was given with 25 km.

Link:
http://www.luftwaffe.de/portal/a/luftwaffe/kcxml/04_Sj9SPykssy0xPLMnMz0vM0Y_QjzKLNzKId_cJAclB2QH6kZ iiXs5IokEpqfre-r4e-bmp-gH6BbmhEeWOjooAVm-y1A!!/delta/base64xml/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80SVVFLzZfMjBfSDlC?yw_contentURL=/01DB060000000001/N26JWG6Z473TDANDE/content.jsp

Passage:
Die neue Kurzstreckenrakete mit dem Namen IRIS-T (Infra-Red Imaging System – Tail/Thrust vector controlled) ist in der Lage, Ziele in einer Entfernung von bis zu 25 Kilometern präzise zu bekämpfen.

Rough own translation:
The new short range AAM with the designation IRIS-T is capable to engage targets with precision up to ranges of 25 km.