dragging a fiery tail it slices through the sky locking onto enemies who have no place to hide with the era dominated by automatic cannons coming to an end air toar missiles have emerged as the most powerful weapon beneath the wings fundamentally altering the rules of aerial combat close-range missiles display extraordinary maneuverability performing in aerial Walts while longrange missiles strike with pinpoint accuracy eliminating foes from a th000 miles away how have the missiles that now dominate the Skies come into existence from nothing what unique skills do they each possess military technology invites you to delve into The Cutting Edge realm of Air Combat specifically airto AAR missiles greetings to all viewers and welcome to military technology I am your host Lon how before we dive in we need a small favor from you please take a moment to hit the Subscribe thumbs up and notification buttons below so you can stay updated on all our latest videos aerial combat has long been hailed as a dance on the edge of a knife where dazzling fighter jets compete for Supremacy in the vast and boundless Blue Sky each needing a unique and specialized skill set it has been said that the dog fights involving cannons during the propeller era represented the True Romance of aerial combat however with the Advent of the jet age various missiles that slice through the sky have taken center stage in the narrative so what exactly are the intricacies and Mysteries Behind These air to- aair missiles that can Target and eliminate enemies from thousands of miles away today we shall embark on a thorough exploration to uncover these secrets on September 24th 1958 an intense aerial battle unfolded over wjo Bay in our country featuring a clash between the people's Liberation Army Air Force and the retreating quman Tang forces from Taiwan during this Fierce 5minute engagement W zong of the people's Air Force was surrounded by 12 enemy aircraft in the heat of battle he successfully shot down two enemy planes before ultimately being struck by a missile carried by an enemy f86 leading to his heroic sacrifice at the young age of 31 the missile that struck martyr Wang zong was the am9 The Sidewinder missile after the battle remnants of a missile and four unexploded missile bodies were discovered in the vicinity of the battlefield the missiles launched by these f86 fighter jets heralded the beginning of an entirely new mode of aerial combat it is generally accepted that the first missile capable of executing air to air strike missions in human history was an improvement based on the HS 293 at that time the Germans referred to this bomb as capable of bombing American bomber formations or what could be classified as a guided bomb in essence it utilized the common guidance method found in the first generation of missiles which was visual radio command guidance specifically there was a luminescent tube at the rear of the missile allowing the pilot to determine the missile's position based on the location of this tube the pilot then manipulated the missile's flight trajectory remotely using a cross-shaped handle building upon the HS 293 this led to the development of the first air toar missile designed in human history which is what we later refer to as the X4 the guidance method employed by the X4 was fundamentally similar to that of the HS 293 so what about the range it is capable of exceeding 3,000 M later the Germans estimated that it could reach around 4,000 M however as we mentioned earlier its accuracy was certainly not particularly High which meant it relied on a powerful Warhead weighing 20 kg consequently the destructive radius of it Warhead was approximately 180 M allowing it to impact densely packed formations of bombers in the air The Sidewinder on the other hand is named after a venomous snake that inhabits the deserts of North and South America this snake can utilize infrared sensory organs to detect nearby warm-blooded animals and the a im9 missile was named The Sidewinder drawing inspiration from this characteristic of the snake in the 1920s scientists discovered the when lead sulfide is exposed to varying degrees of infrared thermal radiation its electrical resistance decreases to different extents a phenomenon known as photoconductivity which was identified in 1946 American engineer William be mle harnessed this characteristic to create a missile that utilized infrared guidance technology due to its similarities with the properties of the sidewinder snake this missile which continues to be used today was atly named the side ER missile the early infrared guidance method was quite straightforward involving the placement of a rectangular convex lens at the front end of the missile ensuring that its Center was aligned with the missile's axis behind this convex lens there was a sensor coated with lead sulfide upon launch the rectangular convex lens began to rotate like a propeller while the infrared radiation emitted by the Target was refracted through the lens onto the sensor as the angle between the Target and the missile's axis increased the point of infrared radiation detection would move closer to the edge of the sensor simultaneously because the edge of the lens had a higher linear velocity the time for infrared refraction would become shorter conversely if the angle between the Target and the missile's axis is smaller the time for infrared refraction becomes longer by determining the off-axis angle of the target based on the duration of the infrared refraction on the lens the missile's flight attitude could be controlled via electrical signals to effectively track the target however this widely renowned missile initially faced significant criticism on the battlefield in the 1960s The Sidewinder missile made a notable appearance in the Vietnam War becoming a key player in aerial combat yet its performance was less than satisfactory on December 14th 1967 major Fisher belonging to the 111 carrier Fighter Squadron received a mission to escort A4 e Skyhawk attack aircraft shortly after the formation entered the designated airspace two MiG 17 fighter jets from the opposing side suddenly engaged from nearby Skies Fisher immediately Advanced to engage in a dog fight with the make aircraft and seized the opportunity to fire two aim 9d Sidewinder missiles unfortunately both missiles failed to hit their target due to the malfunctioning proximity f with the offensive maneuvering lost to him fer could only rely on agility to engage in a Close Quarters fight with the make aircraft after several minutes of intense dog fighting fiser was joined by a number of friendly aircraft that had come to provide support leading them he sounded the horn for a Counterattack unleashing several Sidewinder missiles in Rapid succession however Al theil's proximity fuses failed to function properly and some missiles were complet lost their targets unknown in flying off into the distance allowing the two mic aircraft to escape the battlefield as for the Sidewinder itself during Operation Rolling Thunder some believed that the hit accuracy of the Sidewinder was approximately 18% a figure that seems quite low however it is essential to contextualize this statistic within the aerial combat environment of the time so what could have led to such a situation on one hand the early models of The Sidewinder were not designed to engage enemy fighter jets rather they were intended for targeting enemy bombers this meant that when a fighter jet fired a missile it had to maneuver as a dynamic Target executing more vigorous and aggressive Maneuvers in such scenarios the missiles tracking capabilities whether using early radar guidance or infrared guidance were often exceeded what is the second reason for this situation the American Pilots at the time were not particularly well versed in how to effectively use missiles for attacking targets US military Pilots had to consider various threats simultaneously including ground Firepower such as the Sam 2 missile systems while also accounting for the agile maneuvers of enemy aircraft like the MiG 17 and Mig 19 as well as later models like the 221 consequently when these Pilots launched missiles they often did not take into account crucial factors such as their launch position the distance to the Target and the relationships with other aircraft this oversight meant that they frequently overlooked whether their missile launches adhere to the established guidelines and regulations pertaining to missile engagement therefore during the entire Vietnam War the sparrow missile reportedly had over 600 launch records achieving a hit rate of just over 50 successful strikes this figure of over 50 includes Friendly Fire incidents meaning that even with these accounted for the actual number of successful engagements was less than 60 resulting in a hit rate of not even 10% thus this ratio is exceedingly low following the trials of the Vietnam War improvements to the aim 9d became imperative in the past the Sidewinder missile due to the insufficient recognition capability of its lead sulfide sensor could only detect the high temperature exhaust of enemy aircraft additionally in high temperature environments such as deserts the infrared radiation distribution becomes complex making it difficult for the infrared guidance system to accurately identify targets it was not until the development of the aim 9l model that the sensor components were enhanced to address these limitations the lead sulfide sensor was replaced with a Lanois infrared sensor that possesses Superior capabilities for detecting infrared radiation along with the installation of new electronic components and identification computers significantly enhancing the missiles resistance to interference compared to earlier models the overall Target acquisition capability was improved by 50% during the fand's War British Harrier Jets launched a total of 27 aim 9l missiles of which 24 successfully hit their targets this resulted in the Downing of 19 Argentine aircraft in 1982 during the air battles in the bua valley the Israeli Air Force fired 55 aim 9l missiles successfully destroying 51 mcraft in the Gulf War US forces employed aim 9l missiles to shoot down 12 Iraqi M aircrafts since the Sidewinder missile achieved its first combat success in 1958 short-range air toar missiles began to dominate the skies directly transforming the aerial Battlefield from the Canon dog fights that had prevailed since World War II far across the ocean the Soviet Union certainly could not allow the United States to dominate unchallenged so it began its own journey of developing air-to-air missiles this journey of development must begin with the Sidewinder missile that failed to detonate within our airspace following the aerial engagement known as the 924 dog fight the Soviet Air Force realized that the US military had introduced a new type of weapon in aerial combat and quickly initiated their own research and develop efforts utilizing the undetonated body of The Sidewinder missile they successfully replicated the first generation of Soviet air to aair missiles designated as the R30 which was formally adopted as the standard Armament for the then advanced mig21 fighter jet however due to the late start in development the R3 soon proved inadequate to meet operational demands consequently the Soviet Union initiated the development of the second generation short range toar missile the r60 which retained many of the external characteristics of The Sidewinder missile however after enhancements made by Ukrainian Engineers the r60 achieved an off-axis launch angle of plus or minus 44° and a tracking flight angle of 30° per second its maneuverability was significantly improved compared to the earlier Sidewinder Miss while the side Winder weighed 88.5 kg the r60 was notably lighter at just 43.5 kg making it the lightest air toar missile in the world at that time nevertheless the r60s Compact and lightweight design also came with drawbacks as its lethality was insufficient as fourth generation aircraft like the su27 and su3 which were capable of Beyond visual range attacks began to enter service the r60 was compelled to evolve into the entirely new or 73 missile to ensure enhanced maneuverability the r73 was designed with a complex aerodynamic layout featuring close coupled Canard wings and pressure Wings based on the aerodynamic profile of the r60 this design utilized the vortices generated as air flowed over the Canard Wings to increase the efficiency of the control surfaces on the pressure Wings Additionally the tail nozzle Incorporated thrust vectoring technology allowing for both vector control and thrust vectoring of the missile one the combination of Canard Wings pressure wings and frust vectoring allows the Earth 73 to perform Maneuvers with a remarkable capability of 60g enabling it to engage targets capable of 12g Maneuvers the concept of maneuverability encompasses not only speed but also angular velocity for instance if you consider a Target in the air that maintains a constant turning angle of approximately 5° without accelerating what must you do to effectively engage it if you traveling at the same speed as the target you would need to position yourself at a relative angle of approximately 45° greater than that of the target this would allow you to intercept directly above it in this scenario both of you would converge at that point in space however if your speed is four times greater than that of the target while it turns at 5° you would only need to turn at 11° to collide with it traditional control surfaces if not utilizing thrust vectoring Tech technology are generally believed to have a maneuvering limit of about 60g per second it cannot be any higher therefore when you are targeting an enemy you must achieve a situation where you strike first which necessitates having absolute knowledge of the target's position if you lack this maneuverability Advantage then the opposing Force's agility will undoubtedly surpass your own maneuvering capabilities in such a scenario you would be unable to execute an intercept as the program airs the topic of air toar missiles has sparked enthusiastic discussions among military enthusiasts prompting us to take a closer look one viewer posed a question stating that while short-range missiles have changed the battlefield environment to some extent their limited range inevitably leads to Close Quarters dog fighting in comparison to short range air toar missiles what characteristics do longrange missiles possess that's a valid point the widespread adoption of short-range airto a missiles has transformed aerial combat from traditional Cannon based dog fighting into to fast-paced Close Quarters engagements involving missiles with significantly greater lethality which undoubtedly presents a more advanced approach than relying solely on quantity and density however the range of short-range air toar missiles still falls short of meeting the demands of Modern Warfare especially with advancements in radar technology making it increasingly feasible to detect enemies from miles away at this point there is an urgent need for air toar missiles capable of engaging targets at greater distances ideally over a, miles away so how are air toar missiles classified what exactly Define short range missiles in the context of visual range aerial combat in Western terminology missiles that operate effectively within a range of 16 km are referred to as short range missiles or visual range air to missiles but what about Beyond visual range naturally missiles that exceed 16 km in range are classified as medium range missiles specifically those with a range between 16 and 100 km long range missiles are defined as those with a range exceeding 100 km and together with medium range air toar missiles they fall under the category of Beyond visual range bvr missiles air-to-air missiles are characterized by the maximum range which surpasses 16 km the advantage of engaging in Beyond visual range aerial combat is that at this point I may not yet be able to see you and the engagement relies entirely on radar systems for detection and tracking this Reliance on radar allows for a different dynamic in the combat where situational awareness and technological capabilities play a crucial role in the outcome of the engagement in such a scenario if my radar performance significantly exceeds yours or if my stealth capabilities are far superior making it difficult for you to detect me I might be able to attack you in a one-sided manner where I am aware of your presence but you are not aware of mine in this case you might not necessarily take evasive actions however in visual range combat where I can see you and you can see me the intensity of my aircraft's maneuverability becomes substantially greater even if missiles are launched at this point their probability of hitting the target is influenced by numerous factors therefore if I am operating a stealthy fifth generation aircraft equipped with Advanced onboard electronic systems capable of acquiring Target information through sophisticated networking while you are in a third generation aircraft it is likely that I could strike you without you ever seeing me moreover even if my initial strike fails and I pursue you into Close Quarters for an attack I can still ensure that you cannot Escape this Dynamic reflects a significant shift in aerial combat capabilities especially following the events of 1949 when the Soviet Union successfully detonated an atomic bomb breaking the United States nuclear Monopoly at that time the large-sized atomic bombs could only be deployed by bombers for close- range delivery in order to avoid a situation similar to Japan's where nuclear bombs were dropped on them the United States Air Force began developing a missile capable of intercepting enemy bombs at a certain distance this missile was known as the Falcon missile the initial model of the Falcon utilized semi-active radar guidance however it was limited by the size and performance of contemporary radar technology resulting in the first generation Falcon having a range of only 8 km additionally It could only carry a mini Warhead weighing 3.4 kg which meant that its actual lethality did not need operational requirements even so to address the emerging threat the first generation Falcon was produced in a quantity of 4,000 units with improvements made during the production process this led to the Falcon family evolving into 11 different models with the range increasing from 8 km to 185 km however the length of the missile also grew to nearly 4 M which meant that at the time no fighter aircraft could accommodate It ultimately leading to its cancellation however this revolutionary technology was not Shell by the 1970s the United States Navy recognized the need to establish a longrange air defense perimeter for its Fleet operating in the open ocean to meet this requirement there was an urgent necessity to equip the sun to be deployed F14 tom cat fighter with a longrange air toar missile thus the famous aim 54 Phenix missile was born the most notable feature of the Phoenix missile was its size and weight with with a missile body measuring 4.1 m in length equivalent to two of the initial Falcon missiles its weight reached an impressive 450 kg this substantial size allowed for a maximum range of up to 200 km however even the robust F14 could only carry six of these eggs meaning that not all could be deployed simultaneously while the development of larger and longer range missiles like the Phoenix continued unabated the US Navy also began to a smaller missile the im7 sparrow which similarly possessed Beyond visual range combat capabilities and embarked on its own path of evolution the sparrow missile was developed starting in 1947 and entered service in 1956 like the Falcon missile it employed semi-active radar guidance and was designed from the outset for Beyond visual range combat interestingly the early models of the sparrow missile did not incorporate an enemy identification system which meant that although the missile also had a range of 8 km it was necessary to keep the target within visual range in order to launch this contradictory engagement rule led the United States Navy to realize that if they could already see the enemy aircraft what was the point of calling it Beyond visual range combat consequently there was an urgent need for a series of upgrades to the sparrow missile the aim 7e variant was equipped with a Doppler pulse radar and a more advanced rocket engine which ultimately enabled the sparrow missile to achieve a range of 25 km and fulfill its intended role in Beyond visual range combat as the program aired viewers began to engage in lightly discussions about the aim 7M missile prompting us to take a closer look at this piece of equipment one viewer posed the question of why the aim 7M achieved an impressive record of 44 hits out of 30 launches during the Gulf War while the sparrow missile seemed to have reached the end of its effectivess in fact we consulted experts on this matter and the explanation lies in the limitations of semi-active radar guidance which does not provide the capability for fire and forget operations Pilots are required to remain in the engagement area for a longer period consequently during the Gulf War where missiles were flying everywhere the danger for Pilots was significantly heightened this situation created an urgent need for a more advanced Beyond visual range missile to take its place in the 1970s in an effort to quickly find successors to both the sparrow and Falcon missiles the United States once again initiated the development of medium-range air toar missiles at this time the US military proposed that the new generation of missiles must ensure a relatively long range while also being able to fit into the narrow Bays of the next generation of stealth Fighters Within These compact missile Bays the most crucial requirement was the necessity to utilize active radar guidance providing the capability for fire and forget operations after a decade of research and development the aim 120 amam missile began to dominate the skies the amam missile itself did not have any particularly distinctive features in its appearance its simple aerodynamic control surfaces meant that its maneuverability would not match that of The Sidewinder which was specialized for dog fighting however the Slender missile body was highly suitable for long cruising it employed a combined guidance mode that utilized inertial guidance during the launch and cruising phases along with terminal Active Radar guidance throughout the launch and cruising stages the launching aircraft could perform trajectory adjustments for the missile via continuous wave and data Link Communications additionally it could receive guidance information transmitted from other fighter jets and early warning aircraft allowing the onboard radar to activate for active guidance during the terminal phase of flight what does it truly mean to achieve fire and forget capabilities in foreign terminology this concept is often referred to as fire and forget which literally translates to the notion of forgetting after launch to understand what fire and forget entails we must first clarify what after launch implies it means that I need to designate the target using some form of Illumination whether through radar or laser in essence I must frame the target Within a specific boundary and maintain continuous illumination on it at this stage the missile will strike the target based on the illumination data it receives however during this process I cannot perform extensive Maneuvers as doing so may cause me to lose sight of the target therefore what does fire and forget or fire and forget capability actually mean certain missiles are designed to be fire and forget meaning that after launch they lock onto the target area once the missile reaches that zone its own Seeker head is responsible for locating and identifying targets within that area therefore based on the information of the predesignated Target that I have programmed I can conduct a comparison and Confirmation and once the moment is right I can proceed to engage the target accordingly with the guidance capability in place at the instant your launch platform completes the missile launch you must consider that regardless of whether you were stealthy before you may now have osed your position consequently if you immediately perform evasive maneuvers after launching and if you must use radar or other means to illuminate the enemy then your maneuvering cannot be overly aggressive otherwise you risk losing track of the target thus the fire an forget capability significantly enhances the combat effectiveness of the aircraft in air combat particularly in complex environments additionally it improves the safety factor for the launching platform itself leading to a comprehensive enhancement of operational capabilities on the battlefield with a standard engagement range of 100 km and a maximum range of 200 km this capability truly allows for striking targets from a distance of a th000 miles it was not until this point that US military aircraft possessed a complete capability for Beyond visual range combat during the air combat that took place over the former Yugoslavia in 1999 the so-called dog fighting expert the mig29 was struck by an aim 120 amram missile at a distance where the aerial engagement had not even commenced similarly across the ocean the Soviet Union introduced its own Beyond visual range air-to-air missile the r77 which can be described as a unique presence among medium-range air toar missiles as air toar missiles globally Advanced towards greater ranges and improved accuracy the r77 managed to maintain a range of 100 km while somewhat compromising on maneuverability in comparison to the amram's Triangular movable control surfaces the are 77 utilized elongated fixed wings and lattice Tail Fins the elongated Wings increase the surface area of air flow during flight enhancing performance meanwhile the lattice Tail Fins provided stronger vortices when the missile underwent angular deflection thereby affecting its maneuvering characteristics the effect Ive surface area of the r77 design is significantly larger than that of a conventional planer tail fin and when combined the maneuverability is enhanced to a degree that 1 + 1 equals greater than 2 meaning the overall performance is Amplified further more as the missile's flight speed increases its maneuverability also improves this almost obsessive approach to maneuver design enables the a77 missile to achieve overload capabilities ranging from 35g to 40 G allowing it to effectively engage targets that can maneuver at 12g the missiles off axis launch angle can reach up to 90° and in certain specific conditions it can even attain 180° in close quarters dog fighting scenarios the r77 performs on par with the most advanced Sidewinder missiles of the time compared to the World War II era where countless projectiles filled the skies the modern operational methods of air to wear Miss may not appear as glamorous or thrilling however whether it is the close combat capabilities of short-range air-to-air missiles or the Precision of long- range counterparts the widespread adoption of airto AAR missiles ultimately marks the end of the era characterized by intense Cannon duels with various types of air to- AAR missiles trailing fiery exhaust as they slice through the sky they are destined to become the protagonists of future aerial combat well dear viewers thank you for your continued attention to the National Defense military channels military technology segment we will see you again at the same time next week the naval gun a weapon with a long and stored history has always been an indispensable Tusk on warships so what Transformations has it undergone from its Inception to the present day from broadside Cannon arrangements to massive ship mounted artillery and then to automated Naval guns this ancient weapon is making a rapid modernization Journey military technology invites us to explore the fascinating story of Naval guns which have experienced a dual transformation in both Form and Function becoming the sharpest tusks of Steel behemoths e
2024-10-19