gwh%sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) (09/15/89)
[White space is vital for readability. I took the
liberty of adding lines between paragraphs, but
everyone - please do so in the future. --CDR]
From: gwh%sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert)
This article is a rewritten reply (with the origional article
deleted) to earlier postings about missiles. It was too big with the
other article included, so i'll give a little backgroud with each
point.
Air to air missiles are today much improved over the early
models that have the most combat useage, and much of the standard
'wisdom' regarding them has proven to be untrue given more recent
experience.
First: Most missiles miss.
The exact percentages vary, but there has almost never been a
missile that hit even half of its targets. Older Sparrow's,
which are passive radar homing (shine radar on target, missile follows
the reflected energy) had a PK (Probability of mission kill) of about
10% in useage in Vietnam. It did not have the 'proper' environment for
use, either, but was not particualrly accurate.
Newer Sparrows have shown a PK of about 25%. They also have
a range of up to 40 miles (more info on missile ranges later), compared
to about twenty.
Infrared homing Sidewinders had a PK of about 15% in vietnam.
Newer ones, in the hands of expert pilots, (UK in Falklands, Israeli)
have had PK's in excess of 75%. The ranges on Sidewinders have gone from
about 5 miles (AIM-9{B,C,D}) to better than 15 miles (AIM-9{L,M,N}).
The even newer AIM-54 Phoenix is the biggest and most lethal
air to air missile in the free world. Weighing over a thousand pounds,
it can hit targets over a hundred miles away, using its built-in
Active Radar Homing (small radar built into the missile). It has a PK
ranging from 33% vs. maneuvering fighters to 75% vs. large bombers. The
US Navy developed it as the best way to make sure that air attacks on
carriers attrited the attackers instead of the carriers.
Some people have criticized the Phoenix and AWG-9 radar used
by the F-14 to guide it as an overly expensive system, some complaining
that the cost per missile ($1.2 million) makes practicing with it
prohibitively expensive. It should be pointed out, however, that the
system is almost entirely automatic, the RIO (rearseater in F-14) having
only to designate which targets are to be engaged and launching missiles
on cue. The electronics work, so practice would be unnecessary.
Other missile costs:
Sparrow, about $400,000.
Sidewinder, about $250,000.
AMRAAM (more later) about $750,000.
Amraam is the new replacement for the Sparrow. It is designed
to be lighter (350 vs. 550 pounds) and longer-ranged (~50 miles) than
the Sparrow. It also employs an active radar homing system, like the
Phoenix. PK for this missile has yet to be established in practice.
A good estimate would be 35%.
Missile Ranges:
Missile ranges are highly variable, affected by altitude (rocket motor
effeciency), speed of launching aircraft, which direction the target is
going...
The listed range is usually the distance that a missile can be launched at
for a fighter and target both at mach 1.5 and 35,000 feet, moving directly
towards each other. The actual range that a missile can be used at may well
be less, and usually is.
List of missiles (air to air)
:includes only those currently in use:
Sidewinder AIM-9 IR Homing 200 lbs 15 miles
Sparrow AIM-7 SARH 550 lbs 40 miles
Phoenix AIM-54 SARH/TARH* 1100 lbs, 100 miles
AMRAAM AIM-120 ARH 350 lbs, 50 miles (to be deployed soon)
* Terminal Active Radar Homing
Note that the following missiles exist, but are air to ground:
Maverick (TV or IR imaging homing, about 750 lbs and 13 miles)
Shrike (ARM (Anti Radiation(radar) Missile, ? and 15 miles?)
Standard ARM (ARM, 1500 lbs, 30 miles?)
HARM (ARM, 400 lbs, 35 miles
Hellfire (SALH, anti-tank)
..and i probably lost one or three
I have more data than this (which was from memory) and should there be interest
I can post more.
--
George William Herbert UCB Naval Architecture Dpt. (my god, even on schedule!)
maniac@garnet.berkeley.edu gwh@ocf.berkeley.eduaws@vax3.iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) (09/17/89)
From: aws@vax3.iti.org (Allen W. Sherzer) In article <27270@amdcad.AMD.COM> gwh%sandstorm.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George William Herbert) writes: > >Phoenix AIM-54 SARH/TARH* 1100 lbs, 100 miles >AMRAAM AIM-120 ARH 350 lbs, 50 miles (to be deployed soon) > >* Terminal Active Radar Homing A nit to pick: The AIM-120 is (like the AIM-54) semi-active at launch with an active radar for terminal homing. The active radar guides the missile for the last ~10 miles. | Allen Sherzer | DETROIT: | | aws@iti.org | Where the weak are killed and eaten |