[sci.military] Air to Air ARM?

neil@progress.COM (Neil Galarneau) (02/14/91)

From: neil@progress.COM (Neil Galarneau)
>From: Adam Curtin <adam@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk>

[nice stuff on Beyond Visual Range missile kills (or the lack thereof) deleted]

>"In 1969, the DOD tried to test an air-to-air ARM developed from the Sparrow
>airframe under the project name Brazo. At modest cost, three test firings
>destroyed three target drones. [Defense Dept. analyst Thomas Amlie says] the
>program was cancelled when it could be interpreted as eliminating large radar
>fighters such as the F-14 and F-15, since the tests proved you could not use a
>radar fighter in combat when up against ARMs."

I find it difficult to believe that the armed forces would send up all these
planes as sitting ducks.  It seems to me that hitting a non-maneuvering
Early Warning Radar is much easier than hitting a Mach 1 or 2 fighter or a
Mach 3? Phoenix (not that the Phoenix is much smaller than a fighter :-).
Also, where is the Soviet version?

On the other hand an air-to-air ARM does seem like an obvious thing to try.

>``The French sell a missile to the entire Third World that will hit an
>Aegis every time. We are building a peacetime military that will never be
>effective in combat.''"

What is this French missile that will hit the ship which protects the carrier
from missile hits (Aegis)?


In confusion,

Neil
neil@progress.com