"It’s easy to build something complicated. It’s hard to build something simple".— William B. McLean.William B. McLean, a Navy physicist at the US Naval Ordnance Test Station in the Mojave desert — a man whose professional responsibilities notably did not include new weapon development — had an idea..Despite the US Navy’s complete disinterest and a fair bit of harassment from his peers, he set out to prove that it could work — radar-hunting missiles that would be cheap to produce, and would work..According to a report in Sandboxx online, McLean and his team were working with lead-sulfide proximity fuses that were designed to be sensitive to infrared radiation (heat)..It was then that the thought occurred to him ... if you could make a fuse that detonated when it sensed infrared radiation, it might also be possible to develop a guidance system that used that same heat-sensing ability to adjust course mid-flight.. An RAAF F/A-18 is armed with an AIM-9L, the first all aspect Sidewinder to be deployed. The AIM-9L was a key factor in the Royal Navy's Falklands success, achieving a kill probability in excess of 80% per launch.An RAAF F/A-18 is armed with an AIM-9L, the first all aspect Sidewinder to be deployed. The AIM-9L was a key factor in the Royal Navy's Falklands success, achieving a kill probability in excess of 80% per launch. .Air combat of the Second World War was largely dominated by daring pilots flying in close quarters with the enemy in an effort to engage them with a variety of onboard cannons..But the unguided nature of these weapons severely limited their range and efficacy..McLean, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as his Ph.D., from the California Institute of Technology before studying nuclear physics as a fellow at the University of Iowa, fervently believed his concept had wings, and he wasn’t the only one..Before long, his subordinates were similarly invested in the idea, and they began stealing time here and there to spend on the concept..It didn’t make McLean or his team very popular with their peers, who saw his missile idea as a waste of time. As a result, the office space occupied by the young physicist and his team earned the derisive nickname of “McLean’s Hobby Shop.”.The brass at China Lake also weren’t particularly interested in the guy in charge of their fuses offering up grandiose ideas, Sandboxx reported..Undeterred, McLean and his team continued working on his infrared-guided missile here and there for years before it finally manifested in something that could be tested..Finally, they produced the world’s first infrared guidance system that was small enough to be housed within the body of a standard 5-foot air-to-ground rocket.. A Shenyang J-5 — a Chinese license-built MiG-17 — at the Military Museum in BeijingA Shenyang J-5 — a Chinese license-built MiG-17 — at the Military Museum in Beijing. .“I personally spent nearly three years [just] considering possibilities,” McLean later recalled. “It is easy to build something complicated; it’s hard to build (something) simple.”.Thus was born, or, thus it would become the AIM-7 and AIM-9 Sidewinder missile, the world's first infrared-guided — or heat seeking — missile, forever changing not only the dynamics of aerial dog fighting, but the ways in which combat aircraft are designed, built and flown..One of the oldest, lowest cost, and most successful air-to-air missiles, the AIM-9 boasts an estimated 270 aircraft kills in its history of use..Famed Navy pilot Wally Schirra, who had a MiG-kill under his belt and would later become an astronaut, described the unusual device at the time as a “dome-shaped device, made of glass … a man-made eyeball.”.“I was a cigarette smoker in those days, and I had one in my hand. As I crossed the room, I noticed that the eyeball was tracking me,” Schirra recalled..The system used a parabolic mirror spinning gyroscopically at 4,200 rpm inside a transparent nosecone mounted on the end of the rocket..As the mirror spun, the system assessed the distance of an infrared signal’s reflection from the axis of spin to determine the angle at which the rocket was off from reaching its target..The system used the same lead-sulfide detector McLean had used in proximity fuses as the center point. In turn, the system controlled the rocket (now missile) via electromagnets that would turn its guide fins.. An AIM 9-L air-to-air heat seeking missile.An AIM 9-L air-to-air heat seeking missile. .It was pure genius and would prove to be ultra-lethal..Perhaps the most important engineering feat McLean and his team incorporated into the design was the ability to use the targeting system not to aim directly at a target, but rather at where the target would be, making it possible to actually hit the fast-moving jet-powered fighters coming into service, Sandboxx reported..McLean would name it the Sidewinder, after the venomous horned vipers that inhabit deserts like the Mojave. These snakes have temperature-sensitive organs on either side of their heads that can detect infrared radiation, making them extremely effective hunters of warm-blooded prey..While McLean’s Sidewinder was steering itself using electromagnets before Chrysler even invented power steering for cars, the Navy tall foreheads were still far from convinced..It was only when McLean presented his mad invention to Admiral William “Deak” Parsons, who had not only worked in the Manhattan Project, but who was the actual weaponeer aboard the Enola Gay B-29 as it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, that he got his break..Parsons immediately recognized the incredible potential the weapon had to offer and within three years, the first AIM-9A Sidewinder missile was undergoing test launches. By 1956, the first production Sidewinders, dubbed AIM-9Bs, were already heading to the fleet..Just two years later, Sidewinders would score their first kills at the hands of Taiwanese pilots in a massive dogfight against Chinese forces.. An F-16 Fighting Falcon armed with AIM-9X Sidewinders over China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center.An F-16 Fighting Falcon armed with AIM-9X Sidewinders over China Lake Naval Air Weapons Center. .China would send 126 MiG-15s and MiG-17s across the Taiwan Strait while Taiwan could muster just 48 American-sourced F-86 Sabres to intercept..The MiGs were faster and had a higher service ceiling, but the Sabres were carrying brand-new American AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles..As the fighting broke out, China’s jets took to higher altitudes in order to exploit the Sabres’ lower operational ceiling and their need to engage with guns..Instead, the Sabres unleashed salvos of Sidewinder missiles, quickly downing six MiGs from distances as great as 9,000 feet. As the Chinese jets scrambled to adjust, three more were shot down by Sabre cannons as they flew into lower altitudes..The Chinese fighters made a hasty retreat and not a single Sabre was lost in the skirmish..The Sidewinder was by the early sixties the principal heat seeker in Western service and as such first drew blood over North Vietnam, used by the USAF and USN..Its early combat record was not spectacular, as the seeker performance limitations were exacerbated by the poor reliability of the tube electronics and the inexperience of its users, who until then trained for intercepts rather than dogfights..Kill probabilities were in the tens of percent, very sensitive to how well the launch aircraft was positioned..Legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager would blame it partly on temperature change ... aircraft would fly into Vietnam at high altitude, then dive down into steaming jungle environments..Yeager claimed that was the reason for the high failure rate..Designed to intercept lumbering bombers, the AIM-9B was also ill suited to knife-fights with MiG-17s at low level. Its launch load factor limit of 2G hampered aircrew, while its seeker very often locked on to the sun or clouds, subsequently sending the missile ballistic..The range limit of 2.6 nautical miles meant the launch aircraft had to be quite properly positioned for a shot..Nevertheless, no less than 28 MiGs were killed for 175 launches between 1965 and 1968, by USAF F-4C/D Phantoms, an aggregate (kill probability) of 16%..An interesting idiosyncrasy of the Vietnam period was F-4B Phantoms could launch up to four AIM-7 and four AIM-9 missiles and carry a 600-US gallon centreline tank..But the mighty F-4B relied on two 17,000-lb maximum afterburner rated General Electric J79-GE-8 turbojet engines to power it off the carrier deck, with the assistance of the catapult..Although basically a good engine, the J79’s primary drawback was it left a long, black smoke trail when not operating in afterburner. This meant that Phantom IIs could be seen from many miles away, sometimes as far as 25 miles.."Smoking engines get you shot, or shot at," noted Vietnam veteran, John Nash..MiG pilots used this deficiency to their advantage on many occasions during the Rolling Thunder campaign, conducting sneak attacks on F-4 formations..The problem was finally rectified in later models of the F-4J (from Block 37 onwards), and retrofitted into early Js and F-4Bs. However, some squadrons soldiered on with "smoking" Phantom IIs until war’s end..The US Navy would recognize the limitations of the AIM-9B, and proceed with the development of a follow-on sub type with improved performance. Thus was born the first of a series of dedicated naval Sidewinders, a split in the family tree which persists to this very day..The need to engage dogfight targets required a better fuse and warhead. The AIM-9L was the first sub type to introduce an active laser proximity fuse, the DSU-15A/B. This device uses a group of Gallium Arsenide solid state lasers which radiate a spoke-like pattern about the missile, each laser is paired to a Silicon photodiode..The lasers emit a stream of pulses, which are reflected by an object which enters the fuse pattern, and sensed by the photodiodes, triggering warhead detonation. The scheme is highly resistant to jamming..The Lima entered service in the late seventies and first drew blood in 1982, used in both the Falklands campaign and the Bekaa Valley air battle. In both campaigns the weapon was a star performer, achieving kill probabilities in excess of 80%..Royal Navy Harriers and Israeli F-15s slaughtered their opponents in head-on shootouts, the hapless Argentines and Syrians never devising suitable evasive manoeuvres..Then came the AIM-9M, which is an improved AIM-9L, with a low smoke motor, better guidance and counter-countermeasures capability..The AIM-9M is the principal dogfight missile used by frontline Western air forces. The AIM-9M was responsible for all of the 10 Sidewinder kills scored during the Gulf conflict, with most kills scored by the longer ranging Sparrow due the Iraqis' reluctance to engage in dogfights..Today, the AIM-9X, at a hefty unit price of US$381,069.74, is the latest production Sidewinder.. Technicians prepare to load AIM-9P Sidewinder and AIM-7E Sparrow missiles onto an McDonnell F-4C-23-MC Phantom II at Hickam Air Force Base.Technicians prepare to load AIM-9P Sidewinder and AIM-7E Sparrow missiles onto an McDonnell F-4C-23-MC Phantom II at Hickam Air Force Base. .It adds a redesigned fuse and a digital ignition safety device to improve handling. It's equipped with updated electronics, including a lock-on-after-launch capability using a new weapon data-link to support beyond visual range engagements..Able to discriminate between multiple targets and countermeasures, such as flares, conventional pulse jammers have no effect..A US Navy-led, joint program with the U.S. Air Force, the AIM-9X also has 28 foreign military sales partners and is configured for easy installation on a wide range of modern aircraft, including the F-15C Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Super Hornet, E/A-18G Growler, F-22 Raptor and all Fifth-Generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter variants..And it all started, with an idea from a ne'er-do-well physicist with no weapons training who was ignored and ridiculed..There is no such thing, as a stupid idea, folks. Only stupid people.. The Sidewinder of Mojave.The Sidewinder of Mojave.
