AIM-9X Sidewinder Approved For Full-Rate Production

Navy News Service ^ | May 19, 2004 | Navy News Service

[Tango Whiskey Papa]

Latest refinement to a "Old Warhorse". IR countermeasures and jet vane control should make this "bad boy" even more lethal.

[bmwcyle]

The Russians improved it to turn 90 degrees off the rail. I hope we copied that.

[CasearianDaoist]

ping. Fill us in will you pls? Just what does this mean.

[null and void]

[null and void]

It means that if you fly against the US, you die.

[BipolarBob]

Forget the pony Mom and Dad. I want an AIM-9X weapons system!

[rmlew]

Is that a pick of a SU-27?
I suppose it makes sense since the AIM-9X is supposed to be better than the AA-11 Archer.

[JasonC]

Pilot looks at the enemy plane. Presses a button. Missile hits the enemy plane. Next.

Seriously, it is about that good. Helmet mounted sight puts a crosshair on whatever the pilot looks at. Missile leaves the plane at high angles and turns on a dime. Acquires targets at much longer ranges than previous heatseekers, basically as far as you can see. Tracks the heat produced by friction between the enemy plane and the air, so it tracks from any angle. Can tell flares and other decoys from the real target. Outmanuevers even high performance aircraft by using thrust vectoring (not just steering vanes, the rocket fires in slightly different directions).

Don't get close to a trained US pilot with these under the wings.

[balrog666]

Hey! Don't spill the beans!

But it also brushes your teeth for you!

[Psycho_Bunny]

My father was a Marine F4 driver in Vietnam. He remarked once that launching a sidewider was like shooting a locamotive off your airframe....lol

I'd love to try it.

[rmlew]

Hoe doe this make it any different from the Russian AA-11 or the Israeli Python-5 ?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The missile that destroyed Hughes. Raytheon felt they needed to win the AIM-9X to stay in the missile business. When Hughes won, Raytheon acquired Hughes. (If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em.)

[dennisw]

What's not to like? May our enemies cower in fear of them.

[Pukin Dog]

Sorry, missed this.

What it means, is that if one of our boys screws up to the degree that an enemy fighter is allowed to get that close to him, this missile will save his ass so he can land and have his CO chew it off.

[Pukin Dog]

This missile is still a worse-case selection, unless used for shooting down airliners flown by terrorists. If our boys are on their game, nothing makes it close enough to where this missile needs to come off the rail.

[null and void]

Is that a pick of a SU-27?

Dunno. Probably.

[null and void]

What's not to like? May our enemies cower in fear of them.

On the Inhabitants of the Middle East

200 years from now, I want their children's children's children's children to cower and cringe in fear whenever they hear the sounds of jet engines overhead because their legends tell of fire from the sky.

I want them to hide in dark caves and holes in the earth, shivering with terror whenever they hear the roar of diesel engines because the tales of their ancestors talk about metal monsters crawling over the earth, spitting death and destruction.

I want their mothers to be able to admonish them with "If you don't behave, the Pale Destroyers will come for you", and that will be enough to reduce them to quivering obeisance.

I want the annihilation to be so complete that their mythology will tell them of the day of judgment when the stern gods from across the sea .. the powerful 'Mericans .. destroyed their forefathers' wickedness.

By BlueLancer
13 SEP 01

[David1]

yup, it does. It is a high off-boresight missile. Take a look at the video: http://www.raytheon.com/products/aim9_x/

[rmlew]

1. The AIM-9X has a smaller warhead than that of an AMRAAM or Sparrow. Why wouldn;t you use a larger warhead?
2. I would think that the AIM-9X would be deployed in frontline service. The ANG have perfectly good earlier versions. (It's not like an airliner can pull a 9G turn while dumping flares.)
3. Aren't you an F-14 pilot? You know that combat is dictated by rules of engagement. There are many situations where the desk jockeys may American fighters to get close to threats to visually identify them before firing.

[rmlew]

I want them to lament the stupidity of Bin Laden and rulers who supported Islamism, the same way they do the Khwarezim governor who sacked a Mongol diplomatic caravan.
For 700 years, they blamed their troubled on the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols. I want them to do the same because of use for another 700 years.