What is the difference between the AIM-54 Phoenix and AIM-120 AMRAAM? Which one is more effective in combat situations? Do pilots have a preference when engaging enemy aircraft? Why or why not?
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The AIM-54 Phoenix was a Cold War-era missile manufactured in the early Sixties. It had a range of 100 nautical miles (185 km) in its last version, using semi-active radar homing, mid-course guidance (this means that the launching aircraft gave the missile guidance as to the course of its target, until it was within range to pick up radar reflected from the launching aircraft’s radar) and active terminal guidance in the last few seconds of flight. It weighed just over 1000 lb (460 kg). It only equipped the US Navy’s F-14 Tomcat fighter, and was retired in 2004, a couple of years before the Tomcat itself retired. The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) was first manufactured in 1991, and continues in production to the present day. Early versions (AIM-120A/B) had a range of 27 nautical miles (50 km); the latest version (AIM-120D) has a range of 86 n.m. (160 km). The missile is a ‘fire-and-forget’ missile, meaning that once locked-on and fired, the aircraft can go away and do something else, the AMRAAM having a fully active radar homing system (meaning that it homes in on radar generated by its own antenna). It also has an inertial guidance platform, so it can be flown to the last known or projected position of its target before turning on its own radar; and there is an option for mid-course guidance if the firing aircraft isn’t busy doing something else and can scan its radar for target position. The AMRAAM weighs about 160 kg (350 lb). F-14 with AIM-9 Sidewinders, AIM-7 Sparrows*, and a single Phoenix Where the careers of the different missiles overlapped, they covered different regimes of air-combat: the Phoenix was a very long-range missile, and so could be used to intercept targets at extreme range; AMRAAMs had a shorter range, but a plane could carry more of them, and they were a good deal cheaper. But the kicker is, while there were plans to equip the F-14 with AMRAAM, and development work started, the plans were cancelled as too expensive for the limited lifespan remaining to the Tomcats at that time. So, because no other plane carried the Phoenix, and the F-14 couldn’t carry the AMRAAM, no pilot or mission planner was ever faced with the choice of either Phoenixes or AMRAAMs or mixing the two. Instead, on an air-superiority mission, either a Tomcat would carry a mix of long-range Phoenixes, medium-range Sparrows, and short-range Sidewinders, for dealing with threats at differing ranges; or would load out with Phoenixes (and a couple of Sidewinders for self-defence), and be backed up by F-18s with AMRAAMs (or Sparrow depending on the date) for dealing with anything that didn’t get splashed by the Phoenixes. Ideally, a pilot wants to take down a target as far away as possible, but the enemy is rarely so obliging as arrange for its planes to stay a long way away. If they survive the barrage of long-range weapons, they tend to get closer, so a layered defence is generally planned for. *The previous caption was in error. Those responsible have been sacked. [link] [comments] |
