A beyond-visual-range missile is an air-to-air missile that is capable of engaging at ranges of 20 nmi (37 km) or beyond. This range has been achieved using dual pulse rocket motors or booster rocket motor and ramjet sustainer motor.
In addition to the range capability, the missile must also be capable of tracking its target at this range or of acquiring the target in flight. Systems in which a mid-course correction is transmitted to the missile have been used.
The examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate.(September 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Early air-to-air missiles used semi-active radar homing guidance, that is the missile used the radiation produced by the launching aircraft to guide it to the target. The latest generation of BVR missiles use a combination of semi-active and active radar.
The first such missiles were relatively simple beam riding designs. The Sparrow 1 mounted on the US Navy's Skyknight became the first operational BVR missile in 1954.[1] These primitive BVR missiles were soon replaced by missiles using semi-active radar homing (SARH).[2][citation needed] This is where the launching aircraft's radar is "locked" onto the target in a single target track (STT) mode, directing radar energy at the target that the missile seeker can "see" as it reflects off the target. The radar antenna must "illuminate" the target until impact. Missiles like the RaytheonAIM-7 Sparrow and Vympel R-27(NATO designation AA-10 'Alamo') home in on the reflected radiation, much as a laser-guided bomb homes in on the reflected laser radiation. Some of the longest-range missiles in use today still use this technology.
An AIM-7 variant called Sparrow II was the first attempt at producing a semi-active radar homing missile, however the first air-to-air missile to introduce a terminal active seeker operationally was the AIM-54 Phoenix[3] carried by the F-14 Tomcat, which entered service in 1972. This relieved the launch platform of the need to illuminate the target until impact, putting it at risk. The Phoenix and its associated Tomcat radar, the AWG-9 was capable of multiple track and launch capability, which was unique to the Tomcat/Phoenix until the advent of AMRAAM in 1991.
Newer fire-and-forget type missiles like the RaytheonAIM-120 AMRAAM and the R-77(NATO designation AA-12 'Adder') instead use an inertial navigation system (INS) combined with initial target information from the launching aircraft and updates from a one or two-way data link in order to launch beyond visual range, and then switch to a terminal homing mode, typically active radar guidance. These types of missiles have the advantage of not requiring the launching aircraft to illuminate the target with radar energy for the entire flight of the missile, and in fact do not require a radar lock to launch at all, only target tracking information. This gives the target less warning that a missile has been launched and also allows the launching aircraft to turn away once the missile is in its terminal homing phase or engage other aircraft. The very longest-range missiles like the Hughes (now Raytheon) AIM-54 Phoenix missile and Vympel manufactured R-33(NATO designation AA-9 'Amos') use this technique also.
Some variants of the Vympel R-27 use SARH for the initial guidance and then passive infra-red guidance for the final stage. This type of missile requires active guidance for a longer part of the flight than fire-and-forget missiles but will still guide to the target even if radar lock is broken in the crucial final seconds of the engagement and may be harder to spoof with chaff due to the dual-type guidance.
Criticismedit
The efficiency of BVR air-to-air missiles has been criticized.
A 2005 paper by USAF officer Patrick Higby showed that BVR missiles fell short of expected performance, despite incurring great cost. Because such missiles required large radars, they made aircraft heavier and increased drag, increasing aircraft procurement and operating costs.[4] Fighters with BVR tended to be less agile than previous ones. Fighter pilots have been reluctant to use BVR missiles at BVR range because of difficulty in distinguishing friends and foes. As a result, most BVR missiles are fired at visual range. Western airforces only scored 4 BVR kills out of 528 kills made during 1965–1982; most kills during that period were made with guns or WVR missiles (AIM-9 Sidewinder).[4]
The increased success rate of BVR combat during 1991 Gulf War may have significantly depended on other factors, such as assistance of AWACS, NCTR system of F-15Cs, as well as enemy incompetence. None of the Iraqi pilots took any evasive measures, either because of poor training or their radar warning receivers malfunctioned.[4] One major issue with BVR is still unreliable IFF technology (Identification friend or foe).[4][5]
Number of air-to-air kills by Western air forces by method, according to a 2005 study.[4]
Engagement
Total kills
Guns
WVR AAMs
BVR AAMs fired WVR
BVR AAMs fired BVR
Notes
1965–1982 (US-Vietnam and Arab-Israeli conflicts)
528
144
308
69
4
During these conflicts, a total of 61 BVR shots were taken, of which 4 killed their target, resulting in a kill rate of 6.6%.[4]
In 2015, United States Naval Air Forces commander Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker cited the sensor fusion of the fifth-generation jet fighterLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II as the way to "bring that long-range ID capability and then share that information" with other platforms.[vague][6]
^Gao, Charlie (2021-06-01). "How Active Radar Homing Missiles Changed Warfare Forever". The National Interest. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
^ abcdefghiHigby, Patrick (30 March 2005). (PDF). Maxwell AFB: Air War College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2017. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
^Sprey, Pierre (2011). "Evaluating Weapons: Sorting the Good from the Bad". In Wheeler, Winslow (ed.). The Pentagon Labyrinth. Center for Defense Information. pp. 105, 106. ISBN978-0-615-44624-0. Retrieved 7 September 2015.
^Fuentes, Gidget (9 June 2015). "Navy Air Boss: F-35C Advanced Sensors, Situational Awareness a 'Game-Changer'". news.usni.org. USNI. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
^Mizokami, Kyle (2016-01-28). "Revealed: Japan's New Fighter Prototype". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
January 01, 1970
beyond, visual, range, missile, redirects, here, other, uses, disambiguation, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, . BVR redirects here For other uses see BVR disambiguation This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations September 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message A beyond visual range missile is an air to air missile that is capable of engaging at ranges of 20 nmi 37 km or beyond This range has been achieved using dual pulse rocket motors or booster rocket motor and ramjet sustainer motor In addition to the range capability the missile must also be capable of tracking its target at this range or of acquiring the target in flight Systems in which a mid course correction is transmitted to the missile have been used Contents 1 History 2 Criticism 3 Gallery 4 List of BVR missiles 5 ReferencesHistory editThe examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this section discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new section as appropriate September 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message Early air to air missiles used semi active radar homing guidance that is the missile used the radiation produced by the launching aircraft to guide it to the target The latest generation of BVR missiles use a combination of semi active and active radar The first such missiles were relatively simple beam riding designs The Sparrow 1 mounted on the US Navy s Skyknight became the first operational BVR missile in 1954 1 These primitive BVR missiles were soon replaced by missiles using semi active radar homing SARH 2 citation needed This is where the launching aircraft s radar is locked onto the target in a single target track STT mode directing radar energy at the target that the missile seeker can see as it reflects off the target The radar antenna must illuminate the target until impact Missiles like the Raytheon AIM 7 Sparrow and Vympel R 27 NATO designation AA 10 Alamo home in on the reflected radiation much as a laser guided bomb homes in on the reflected laser radiation Some of the longest range missiles in use today still use this technology An AIM 7 variant called Sparrow II was the first attempt at producing a semi active radar homing missile however the first air to air missile to introduce a terminal active seeker operationally was the AIM 54 Phoenix 3 carried by the F 14 Tomcat which entered service in 1972 This relieved the launch platform of the need to illuminate the target until impact putting it at risk The Phoenix and its associated Tomcat radar the AWG 9 was capable of multiple track and launch capability which was unique to the Tomcat Phoenix until the advent of AMRAAM in 1991 Newer fire and forget type missiles like the Raytheon AIM 120 AMRAAM and the R 77 NATO designation AA 12 Adder instead use an inertial navigation system INS combined with initial target information from the launching aircraft and updates from a one or two way data link in order to launch beyond visual range and then switch to a terminal homing mode typically active radar guidance These types of missiles have the advantage of not requiring the launching aircraft to illuminate the target with radar energy for the entire flight of the missile and in fact do not require a radar lock to launch at all only target tracking information This gives the target less warning that a missile has been launched and also allows the launching aircraft to turn away once the missile is in its terminal homing phase or engage other aircraft The very longest range missiles like the Hughes now Raytheon AIM 54 Phoenix missile and Vympel manufactured R 33 NATO designation AA 9 Amos use this technique also Some variants of the Vympel R 27 use SARH for the initial guidance and then passive infra red guidance for the final stage This type of missile requires active guidance for a longer part of the flight than fire and forget missiles but will still guide to the target even if radar lock is broken in the crucial final seconds of the engagement and may be harder to spoof with chaff due to the dual type guidance Criticism editThe efficiency of BVR air to air missiles has been criticized A 2005 paper by USAF officer Patrick Higby showed that BVR missiles fell short of expected performance despite incurring great cost Because such missiles required large radars they made aircraft heavier and increased drag increasing aircraft procurement and operating costs 4 Fighters with BVR tended to be less agile than previous ones Fighter pilots have been reluctant to use BVR missiles at BVR range because of difficulty in distinguishing friends and foes As a result most BVR missiles are fired at visual range Western airforces only scored 4 BVR kills out of 528 kills made during 1965 1982 most kills during that period were made with guns or WVR missiles AIM 9 Sidewinder 4 The increased success rate of BVR combat during 1991 Gulf War may have significantly depended on other factors such as assistance of AWACS NCTR system of F 15Cs as well as enemy incompetence None of the Iraqi pilots took any evasive measures either because of poor training or their radar warning receivers malfunctioned 4 One major issue with BVR is still unreliable IFF technology Identification friend or foe 4 5 Number of air to air kills by Western air forces by method according to a 2005 study 4 Engagement Total kills Guns WVR AAMs BVR AAMs fired WVR BVR AAMs fired BVR Notes 1965 1982 US Vietnam and Arab Israeli conflicts 528 144 308 69 4 During these conflicts a total of 61 BVR shots were taken of which 4 killed their target resulting in a kill rate of 6 6 4 1991 Gulf war 41 2 10 8 16 BVR missiles had a kill rate of 34 By contrast WVR missiles had a kill rate of 67 despite costing less than half of a BVR missile 4 1994 Banja Luka incident 3 1 0 4 1999 January 5 incident over Iraq 0 0 6 BVR missiles were fired AIM 120 AIM 54 AIM 7 but all missed 4 In 2015 United States Naval Air Forces commander Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker cited the sensor fusion of the fifth generation jet fighter Lockheed Martin F 35 Lightning II as the way to bring that long range ID capability and then share that information with other platforms vague 6 Gallery edit nbsp AMRAAM is the most widely used BVR missile nbsp The AAM 4B was the first BVR missile to utilize an AESA seeker 7 nbsp Meteor uses ramjet sustainer motor nbsp A MiG 29 Fulcrum fires an AA 10 Alamo nbsp Astra Mk 1 on static display List of BVR missiles editAAM 4 nbsp Japan AIM 7 Sparrow nbsp US AIM 54 Phoenix nbsp US AIM 120 AMRAAM nbsp US AIM 260 JATM nbsp US Astra MK 1 nbsp India Astra MK 2 nbsp India Astra MK 3 nbsp India Gokdogan missile nbsp Turkey Derby nbsp Israel K 100 nbsp Russia Meteor nbsp EU MICA nbsp France PL 12 SD 10 nbsp China PL 15 nbsp China PL 17 nbsp China PL 21 nbsp China Python missile nbsp Israel R 27 nbsp Russia R 33 missile nbsp Soviet Union R 37 missile nbsp Russia R 40 missile nbsp Soviet Union R 77 nbsp Russia R Darter nbsp South Africa Sky Spear nbsp Israel Sky Sword II nbsp Taiwan Skyflash nbsp UKReferences edit Guided Missiles ride Navy Jet Popular Mechanics Popular Mechanics Company 116 November 1954 http ig space a brief history of air to air missiles Gao Charlie 2021 06 01 How Active Radar Homing Missiles Changed Warfare Forever The National Interest Retrieved 2021 08 16 a b c d e f g h i Higby Patrick 30 March 2005 Promise and Reality Beyond Visual Range BVR Air To Air Combat PDF Maxwell AFB Air War College Archived from the original PDF on 20 October 2017 Retrieved 7 September 2015 Sprey Pierre 2011 Evaluating Weapons Sorting the Good from the Bad In Wheeler Winslow ed The Pentagon Labyrinth Center for Defense Information pp 105 106 ISBN 978 0 615 44624 0 Retrieved 7 September 2015 Fuentes Gidget 9 June 2015 Navy Air Boss F 35C Advanced Sensors Situational Awareness a Game Changer news usni org USNI Retrieved 9 June 2015 Mizokami Kyle 2016 01 28 Revealed Japan s New Fighter Prototype Popular Mechanics Retrieved 2020 04 29 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Beyond visual range missile amp oldid 1214244311, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
