AGM-45 Shrike is an American anti-radiation missile designed to home in on hostile anti-aircraft radar. The Shrike was developed by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in 1963 by mating a seeker head to the rocket body of an AIM-7 Sparrow. It was phased out by U.S. in 1992[1] and at an unknown time by the Israeli Air Force (the only other major user), and has been superseded by the AGM-88 HARM missile. The Israel Defense Forces developed a version of the Shrike that could be ground-launched with a booster rocket, and mounted it on an M4 Sherman chassis as the Kilshon (Hebrew for Trident).[1][5]
The Shrike was first employed during the Vietnam War by the Navy in 1965 using A-4 aircraft. The Air Force adopted the weapon the following year using F-105F and G ThunderchiefWild WeaselSEAD aircraft, and later the F-4 Phantom II in the same role. The range was nominally shorter than the SA-2 Guideline missiles that the system was used against, although it was a great improvement over the early method of attacking SAM sites with rockets and bombs from F-100F Super Sabres. A Shrike was typically lofted about 30 degrees above the horizon at a Fan Song radar some 15 miles (25 km) away for a flight time of 50 seconds. Tactics changed incrementally over the campaigns of 1966 and 1967 until the advent of the AGM-78 Standard ARM. That new weapon allowed launches from significantly longer range with a much easier attack profile, as the Standard could be launched up to 180 degrees off target and still expect a hit and its speed allowed it to travel faster than the SA-2. Even after the Standard missile entered service, the Weasels still carried the Shrike because the Standard cost about $200,000, while a Shrike cost only $7,000. If USAF pilots expended a Standard they would have to fill out a lengthy form during debriefing. A somewhat standard load for the F-105G was a 650 US gal (2,500 L) centerline fuel tank, two Standards on inboard pylons and two Shrikes on the outboard pylons. The mix varied slightly for jamming pods and the occasional AIM-9 Sidewinder but this was the baseline.[citation needed]
The Shrike was involved in a friendly fire incident during an airstrike on Haiphong on 15 April 1972. Two missiles struck USS Worden(CG-18) killing one crewman and injuring nine more. An American pilot apparently interpreted the PIRAZ cruiser's AN/SPG-55 radar as a North Vietnamese SAM site. Worden required ten days shipyard work at the Subic Bay Naval Base to repair the damage.[6]
Although the Shrike missile did not enter regular service with the United Kingdom, it was covertly supplied by the United States to the RAF for use in the Falklands War of 1982. RAF Shrikes were fitted to modified Vulcan bombers in order to attack Argentine radar installations during Operation Black Buck. The main target was a Westinghouse AN/TPS-43 long range 3D radar that the Argentine Air Force deployed during April to guard Falklands' airspace. The Argentine operators were aware of the anti-radiation missiles and would simply turn it off during the Vulcan's approaches. This radar remained intact during the whole conflict. However, air defences remained operational during the attacks and the Shrikes hit two of the less valuable and rapidly replaced secondary fire control radars. After one Vulcan made an emergency landing at Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian authorities confiscated a Shrike which was not returned.[7]
About 95 AGM-45s were used in 1991 during Desert Storm against Iraqi air defense, mostly by F-4Gs.[8][unreliable source?]
Variants
There are many subvariants, each tuned to a different radar band. Angle gating, used to prioritize targets, was included in every subvariant of the AGM-45A and B after the A-2 and B-2. It was also slow and the lack of punch in the warhead made it difficult for bomb damage assessment, as well as inflicting any damage to the Fan Song Radar vans beyond a shattered radar dish, an easy item to replace or repair. The short range, combined with its lack of speed (compared to the SA-2 SAM) made for a difficult attack. The missile had to be well within the range of the SAM radar and if a SAM was fired the SAM would get to the aircraft first. Also the missile had few tolerances and had to be launched no more than + or − 3 degrees from the target[citation needed]. Many pilots in Vietnam did not like the Shrike because of its limitations and its success rate of around 25%.
The differences between the AGM-45A and B are in the rocket motor used, and in the warheads capable of being fitted. The AGM-45A used the Rocketdyne Mk 39 Mod 0 (or apparently in some cases the Aerojet Mk 53 Mod 1) motor, while the AGM-45B used Aerojet Mk 78 Mod 0 which greatly increased the range of the missile. As for warheads, the Mk 5 Mod 0, Mk 86 Mod 0, and WAU-8/B could all be fitted to the AGM-45A and were all blast-fragmentation in nature. The AGM-45B made use of the improved Mk 5 Mod 1 and Mk 86 Mod 1 warheads, as well as, the WAU-9/B, again all blast-fragmentation in type.
The following table provides information on what radar bands were associated with certain guidance sections, and the subvariant designation.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to AGM-45 Shrike.
Wikisource has several original texts related to Audio recordings and transcripts with comments of actual Wild Weasel combat missions over Vietnam..
The AGM-45 Shrike at Designation Systems.net
January 07, 2023
shrike, american, anti, radiation, missile, designed, home, hostile, anti, aircraft, radar, shrike, developed, naval, weapons, center, china, lake, 1963, mating, seeker, head, rocket, body, sparrow, phased, 1992, unknown, time, israeli, force, only, other, maj. AGM 45 Shrike is an American anti radiation missile designed to home in on hostile anti aircraft radar The Shrike was developed by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in 1963 by mating a seeker head to the rocket body of an AIM 7 Sparrow It was phased out by U S in 1992 1 and at an unknown time by the Israeli Air Force the only other major user and has been superseded by the AGM 88 HARM missile The Israel Defense Forces developed a version of the Shrike that could be ground launched with a booster rocket and mounted it on an M4 Sherman chassis as the Kilshon Hebrew for Trident 1 5 AGM 45 ShrikeAGM 45 ShrikeTypeAir to surface anti radiation missilePlace of originUnited StatesService historyIn service1965 1992WarsVietnam War 1 Yom Kippur War 2 Iran Iraq War Falklands War Operation El Dorado Canyon Gulf WarProduction historyDesigned1963SpecificationsMass390 pounds 177 06 kg Length10 feet 3 05 m Diameter8 inches 203 mm Warhead67 5 kg 149 lb MK 5 MOD 1 or MK 86 MOD 1 blast fragmentation or 66 6 kg 147 lb WAU 9 B blast fragmentationWingspan3 feet 914 mm Operationalrange16 km AGM 45A 3 40 km AGM 45B 4 3 Maximum speedMach 1 5GuidancesystemPassive radar homingLaunchplatformA 4 Skyhawk A 6 Intruder LTV A 7 Corsair II F 100 Super Sabre F 105 Thunderchief F 4 Phantom II Avro Vulcan not regular service Contents 1 History 2 Variants 3 Operators 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory Edit A 4 Skyhawk launching an AGM 45 Shrike The Shrike was first employed during the Vietnam War by the Navy in 1965 using A 4 aircraft The Air Force adopted the weapon the following year using F 105F and G Thunderchief Wild Weasel SEAD aircraft and later the F 4 Phantom II in the same role The range was nominally shorter than the SA 2 Guideline missiles that the system was used against although it was a great improvement over the early method of attacking SAM sites with rockets and bombs from F 100F Super Sabres A Shrike was typically lofted about 30 degrees above the horizon at a Fan Song radar some 15 miles 25 km away for a flight time of 50 seconds Tactics changed incrementally over the campaigns of 1966 and 1967 until the advent of the AGM 78 Standard ARM That new weapon allowed launches from significantly longer range with a much easier attack profile as the Standard could be launched up to 180 degrees off target and still expect a hit and its speed allowed it to travel faster than the SA 2 Even after the Standard missile entered service the Weasels still carried the Shrike because the Standard cost about 200 000 while a Shrike cost only 7 000 If USAF pilots expended a Standard they would have to fill out a lengthy form during debriefing A somewhat standard load for the F 105G was a 650 US gal 2 500 L centerline fuel tank two Standards on inboard pylons and two Shrikes on the outboard pylons The mix varied slightly for jamming pods and the occasional AIM 9 Sidewinder but this was the baseline citation needed The Shrike was involved in a friendly fire incident during an airstrike on Haiphong on 15 April 1972 Two missiles struck USS Worden CG 18 killing one crewman and injuring nine more An American pilot apparently interpreted the PIRAZ cruiser s AN SPG 55 radar as a North Vietnamese SAM site Worden required ten days shipyard work at the Subic Bay Naval Base to repair the damage 6 Although the Shrike missile did not enter regular service with the United Kingdom it was covertly supplied by the United States to the RAF for use in the Falklands War of 1982 RAF Shrikes were fitted to modified Vulcan bombers in order to attack Argentine radar installations during Operation Black Buck The main target was a Westinghouse AN TPS 43 long range 3D radar that the Argentine Air Force deployed during April to guard Falklands airspace The Argentine operators were aware of the anti radiation missiles and would simply turn it off during the Vulcan s approaches This radar remained intact during the whole conflict However air defences remained operational during the attacks and the Shrikes hit two of the less valuable and rapidly replaced secondary fire control radars After one Vulcan made an emergency landing at Rio de Janeiro Brazilian authorities confiscated a Shrike which was not returned 7 About 95 AGM 45s were used in 1991 during Desert Storm against Iraqi air defense mostly by F 4Gs 8 unreliable source Variants EditThere are many subvariants each tuned to a different radar band Angle gating used to prioritize targets was included in every subvariant of the AGM 45A and B after the A 2 and B 2 It was also slow and the lack of punch in the warhead made it difficult for bomb damage assessment as well as inflicting any damage to the Fan Song Radar vans beyond a shattered radar dish an easy item to replace or repair The short range combined with its lack of speed compared to the SA 2 SAM made for a difficult attack The missile had to be well within the range of the SAM radar and if a SAM was fired the SAM would get to the aircraft first Also the missile had few tolerances and had to be launched no more than or 3 degrees from the target citation needed Many pilots in Vietnam did not like the Shrike because of its limitations and its success rate of around 25 The differences between the AGM 45A and B are in the rocket motor used and in the warheads capable of being fitted The AGM 45A used the Rocketdyne Mk 39 Mod 0 or apparently in some cases the Aerojet Mk 53 Mod 1 motor while the AGM 45B used Aerojet Mk 78 Mod 0 which greatly increased the range of the missile As for warheads the Mk 5 Mod 0 Mk 86 Mod 0 and WAU 8 B could all be fitted to the AGM 45A and were all blast fragmentation in nature The AGM 45B made use of the improved Mk 5 Mod 1 and Mk 86 Mod 1 warheads as well as the WAU 9 B again all blast fragmentation in type The following table provides information on what radar bands were associated with certain guidance sections and the subvariant designation Shrike hitting a simulated target Designation Guidance Section Targeted Bands Primary TargetsAGM 45A 1 Mk 23 Mod 0 E F Band SON 9 Fire Can Fan Song 9 AGM 45A 2 AGM 45B 2 Mk 22 Mod 0 1 2 G Band Fan Song 10 AGM 45A 3 AGM 45B 3 Mk 24 Mod 0 1 34 Broad E F Band P 35 radar Bar Lock Fan Song 10 AGM 45A 3A AGM 45B 3A Mk 24 Mod 2 5 Narrow E F Band P 35 radar Bar Lock Fan Song 10 AGM 45A 3B AGM 45B 3B Mk 24 Mod 3 E F Band P 35 radar Bar Lock Fan Song 10 AGM 45A 4 AGM 45B 4 Mk 25 Mod 0 1 G Band Fan Song 11 AGM 45A 6 AGM 45B 6 Mk 36 Mod 1 I Band SNR 125 Low Blow 11 AGM 45A 7 AGM 45B 7 Mk 37 Mod 0 E F Band P 15 radar Flat Face 11 AGM 45A 9 AGM 45B 9 Mk 49 Mod 0 I Band SNR 125 Low Blow 1S91 Straight Flush 11 AGM 45A 9A AGM 45B 9A Mk 49 Mod 1 I Band G bias AGM 45A 10 AGM 45B 10 Mk 50 Mod 0 E Band to I Band Various 11 The 5 targeted at Fan Song and M 11 Shtorm Head Lights and 8 targeted at P 18 radar Spoon Rest and P 14 radar Tall King weapons never left development 11 Operators Edit Iran 12 Israel United Kingdom United StatesSee also EditInternational Signal and ControlReferences Edit a b c 9 0 Anti Radar Missiles Archived from the original on 21 November 2011 Retrieved 27 November 2011 Spencer Tucker The encyclopedia of the Arab Israeli conflict a political social and military history A F Volume 1 2008 ABC CLIO p 685 a b AGM 45 Shrike weaponsystems net Retrieved 11 April 2018 AGM 45 Shrike Anti Radiation Missile af mil Archived from the original on 29 December 2017 Retrieved 11 April 2018 Kilshon www israeli weapons com Retrieved 11 April 2018 Worden DLG 18 IV Naval History and Heritage Command United States Navy Retrieved 8 September 2015 RAF Operation Black Buck Archived from the original on 14 February 2014 Retrieved 6 January 2013 Archived copy Archived from the original on 25 April 2012 Retrieved 27 December 2011 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Cliff Lawson The Station Comes of Age Naval Air Warfare Center U S Weapons Division 2017 ISBN 9780160939709 a b c d Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake Museum https commons wikimedia org wiki File AGM 45 Shrike seeker display 1 of 2 jpg a b c d e f Naval Air Warfare Center China Lake Museum https commons wikimedia org wiki File AGM 45 Shrike seeker display 2 of 2 jpg AGM 45 Shrike Retrieved 24 May 2018 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to AGM 45 Shrike Wikisource has several original texts related to Audio recordings and transcripts with comments of actual Wild Weasel combat missions over Vietnam The AGM 45 Shrike at Designation Systems net Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title AGM 45 Shrike amp oldid 1118964019, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
