megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (MEGAZONE 23) (02/08/91)
From: megazone@wpi.WPI.EDU (MEGAZONE 23) Information: Maverick >From The Encyclopedia of World Air Power, Cresent Books, 1980 Type: air-to-surface missile Powerplant; one Thiokol TX-481 dual-thrust solid-propellant rocket motor Performance: speed Mach 1.2 or 912mph (1468 km/h) during boost phase, subsonic during glide after burn-out; maximum range about 14 miles (22.4 km) Weight: 465lb (211 kg) Dimensions: span 28.3in (72 cm); length 8ft 2in (2.49 m); diameter 8in (30 cm) Warhead: hollow-charge, weighing 130lb (59 kg) Operators: Greece, Iran, Israel, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, South Korea, Turkey, US Air Force "The Hughes AGM-65 Maverick has been developed in several versions, fitted with different homing heads, to meet a wide variety of requirements. The first varient was the AGM-65A, for which Hughes was awarded a development and testing contract in July 1968. This model is fitted with a nose-mounted tele- vision camera which is locked on to its target before launching. The pilot or second crew member of the parent aircraft has a monitor on which he can see the view from the TV camera, and he steers cross-hairs by means of a joystick, to place them over the object to be attacked. The AGM-65A, which hit a tank during its first guided flight in December 1969 and entered service three years later, was designed to attack hardened point targets such as armoured vehicles, fortifications, bunkers, parked aircraft and radar or missile sites. Hughes built several thousand AGM-65As to arm the USAF Tactical Air Command's McDonnell Douglas F-4D/E Phantoms, Vought A-7D Cosairs and Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt IIs before switching to the AGM-65B. This model known as the Scene Magnification Maverick, entered service in 1976 and is fitted with magnifying optics so that it can be locked on to targets at greater ranges. Production of 17,000 AGM-65A/Bs was completed in April 1978 but three other variants continued in development. The AGM-65C is fitted with a Rockwell semi- active laser seeker in place of the television guidance, allowing it to home on to low-contrast targets illuminated from the air or by ground-based designators. This Laser Maverick, which was still being tested in 1978, is intended for use in both the interdiction and close-support roles. The AGM-65D is a version fitted with an imaging infra-red (IIR) seeker so that it can attack targets at night or when they are obscured by smoke or haze. Up to 15,000 AGM-65Ds are expected to be built. By the end of 1978 the latest Maverick type to be revealed was the AGM-65E, carrying a 250-lb (113-kg) penetration anti-ship warhead in place of the lighter payload employed with earlier types." >From The US War Machine, Salamander Books, 1983. Origin: Hughes Aircraft, USA Type: Rocket missile with various forms of guidance Propulsion: Thiokol boost/sustain solid motor, from 1972 TX-481 and from 1981 TX-633 with reduced smoke Dimensions: Length 98in (2,490mm); body diameter 12in (305mm); span 28.3in (720mm) Launch weight: (AGM-65A, shaped charge) 463lb (210kg), (65A, blast/frag) 635lb (288kg) Range: 0.6 to 10 miles (1 to 16km) at sea level, up tp 25 miles (40km) after Mach 1.2 release at altitude. Flight speed: Classified, but supersonic. Warhead: Choice of Chamberlain shaped charge (83lb, 37.6kg, charge) or Avco steel-case penetrator blast/frag "Smallest of the fully guided or self homing ASMs for US use, AGM-65 Maverick was aproved in 1965 and, following competition with Rockwell, Hughes won the programme in June 1968. An initial 17,000-missile package was fulfilled in 1975, and production has continued at reduced rate on later versions. The basic missile, usually carried in triple clusters under the wings of the F-4, F-15, F-16, A-7, A-10 and Swedish AJ37A Viggen, and singly by the F-5 and the BGM-34 RPV, has four delta wings of very low aspect ratio, four tail controls immediately behind the wings, and a dual-thrust solid motor. In mid-1978 Hughes completed production of 26,000 AGM-65A Mavericks and for three years had no production line. The pilot selects a missile, causing its gyro to run up to speed and light a cockpit indicator. He then visually acquires the target, depresses his uncage switch to remove the protective cover from the missile nose, and activates the video circuitry. The TV picture at once appears on a bright display in the cockpit and the pilot then either slews the video seeker in the missile or else lines up the target in his own gunsight. He depresses the track switch, waits until the cross-hairs on the TV display are aligned on the target, releases the switch and fires the round. Homing is automatic, and the launch aircraft at once escapes from the area. Unguided flights began in September 1969. AGM-65A has been launched at all heights down to treetop level. In the 1973 Yom Kippur war it was used oper- ationally, in favorable conditions. It requires good visibility, and the occasional $48,000 A-model breaks its TV lock and misses its target - for example, because of overwater glint. AGM-65B, Scene-Magnification Maverick, has new optics, a stronger gimbal mount and revised electronics. The pilot need not see the target, but instead can search with the seeker and cockpit display which presents an enlarged and clearer picture. Thus he can identify the target, lock-on and fire much quicker and from a greater slant range. AGM-65B was in production (at up to 200 per month) from May 1980 to May 1983. AGM-65C Laser Maverick was for close-air support against laser-designated targets, the lasers being the infantry ILS-NT200 or the airborne Pave Knife, Pave Penny, Pave Spike, Pave Tack or non-US systems. Flight testing began in January 1977, using the Rockwell tri-Service seeker. Troop training has established the method of frequency and pulse coding to tie each missile to only one air or ground designator, so that many Mavericks can simultaneously be homed on many different sources of laser radiation. AGM-65C was replaced by AGM-65E with "tri-Service" laser tracker and digital processing which sen-(book seems to be missing a line or two here) in 1982 was entering production for the US Marine Corps with heavy blast/frag warhead. Westinghouse tested Pave Spike with the Minneapolis-Honeywell helmet sight for single-seat aircraft. In May 1977 engineering development began on AGM-65D IR-Maverick, with Hughes IIR tri-Service seeker. Consequently more expensive than other versions, the IIR seeker - especially when slaved to an aircraft-mounted sensor such as FLIR, a laser pod or the APR-38 radar warning system - enables the Maverick to lock-on at at least twice the range otherwise possible in north-west Europe in mist, rain or at night. Of course, it also distinguishes between "live targets" and "hulks". Using the centroid seeker in place of the original endlock optics, AGM-65D was tested from an F-4 in Germany in poor weather in January-March 1978. While Hughes continues to produce the common centre and aft missile sections, delay with the laser-seeker E-version means the AGM-65D got into pilot production first. All AGM-65A Mavericks have the same 130lb (59kg) conical shaped-charge warhead, but different warheads are in prospect. The Mk 19 250lb (113kg) blast/fragmentation head is preferred by the Navy and Marines, giving capa- bility against small ships as well as hard land targets, and may be fitted to CD versions with new fuzing/arming and a 4in (102mm) increase in length. Another warhead weighs 300lb (136kg), while in December 1976 the Air Force expressed a need for a nuclear warhead. Hughes Tuscon, Arizona plant is likely to be hard-pressed to handle TOW, Phoenix and residual Roland work on top pf enormously expanded Maverick production. By far the largest numbers are expected to be of the IIR Maverick, AGM-65D, of which over 30,000 rounds are predicted at a rate of 500 per month. Prolonged tests have confirmed the longrange, which at last matches the flight limitations of the missile itself, and AGM-65D is the standard missile for use with Lantirn night and bad-weather sensor system now being fitted to F-16s and A-10s. The Navy is expected to procure AGM-65F, which is almost the same missile but fitted with the heavy penetrator warhead of the AGM-65E, and with modified guidance software exactly matched to give optimum hits on surface warships. With this missile family Hughes has achieved a unique capability with various guidance systems and warheads, resulting in impressively large production and interchangeability." ############################################################################### # "Calling Garland operator 7G," EVE Email megazone@wpi.wpi.edu # # MEGAZONE, aka DAYTONA, aka BRIAN BIKOWICZ Bitnet Use a gateway. Sorry. # ###############################################################################