>FirstDagger at 15:01, 16 August 2021

2021-08-16T15:01:26Z

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{{redirect|BVR}}
{{Short description|Range classification of air-to-air missiles}}
{{More footnotes|date=September 2015}}
A '''beyond-visual-range missile''' ('''BVR''') is an [[air-to-air missile]] ('''BVRAAM''') that is capable of engaging at ranges of {{convert|20|nmi|km|abbr=on}} or beyond. This range has been achieved using dual pulse [[rocket motor]]s 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.

==History==
{{Globalize|section|date=September 2015}}
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.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Guided Missiles ride Navy Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sdwDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116|page=116 |journal=[[Popular Mechanics]] |publisher=[[Popular Mechanics Company]] |date=November 1954}}</ref> These primitive BVR missiles were soon replaced by missiles using [[semi-active radar homing]] (SARH).{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} This is where the launching aircraft's radar is [[missile lock-on|"locked"]] onto the target in a single target track (STT) mode, directing a 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<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gao|first=Charlie|date=2021-06-01|title=How Active Radar Homing Missiles Changed Warfare Forever|url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/how-active-radar-homing-missiles-changed-warfare-forever-186464|access-date=2021-08-16|website=The National Interest|language=en}}</ref> 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 homing|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 Aircraft|Hughes]] (now Raytheon) [[AIM-54]] Phoenix missile and [[Vympel]] manufactured [[Vympel R-33|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 (radar countermeasure)|chaff]] due to the dual-type guidance.

== Criticism ==
The efficacy of BVR air-to-air missiles has been criticized. The increased success rate of BVR combat during [[Operation Desert Storm]] may have significantly depended on other factors, such as assistance of [[Airborne early warning and control|AWACS]], [[Non-Cooperative Target Recognition|NCTR]] system of [[F-15C]]s, as well as enemy incompetence. One major issue with BVR is still unreliable IFF technology ([[Identification friend or foe]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pogoarchives.org/labyrinth/11/09.pdf|title=Promise and Reality: Beyond Visual Range (BVR) Air-To-Air Combat|format=PDF|first1=Patrick|last1=Higby|publisher=[[Air War College]]|place=[[Maxwell Air Force Base|Maxwell AFB]]|date=30 March 2005|access-date=7 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Pierre |last=Sprey |editor-first1=Winslow |editor-last1=Wheeler |title=The Pentagon Labyrinth |section=Evaluating Weapons: Sorting the Good from the Bad |url=https://archive.org/details/pentagonlabyrint0000unse/page/105 |publisher=[[Center for Defense Information]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/pentagonlabyrint0000unse/page/105 105, 106] |isbn=978-0-615-44624-0 |date=2011 |access-date=7 September 2015 }}</ref>

In 2015 United States Naval Air Forces commander Vice Adm. 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|date=September 2015}}<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.usni.org/2015/06/09/navy-air-boss-f-35c-advanced-sensors-situational-awareness-a-game-changer |title=Navy Air Boss: F-35C Advanced Sensors, Situational Awareness a 'Game-Changer' |last1=Fuentes |first1=Gidget |date=9 June 2015 |website=news.usni.org |publisher=USNI |access-date=9 June 2015}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Aim 120 amraam missile 20040710 145603 1.4.jpg|[[AIM-120 AMRAAM|AMRAAM]] is the most widely used BVR missile.
File:JASDF AAM-4B 20131124.JPG|The [[AAM-4B]] was the first BVR missile to utilize an [[Active electronically scanned array|AESA]] seeker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/news/a19172/revealed-japans-new-fighter-prototype-x2-stealth/|title=Revealed: Japan's New Fighter Prototype|last=Mizokami|first=Kyle|date=2016-01-28|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-29}}</ref>
File:Meteor (Luft-Luft-Rakete).jpg|[[Meteor (missile)|Meteor]] uses [[ramjet]] sustainer motor.
File:Mig 29 firing AA-10.JPG|A [[MiG-29]] Fulcrum fires an [[AA-10]] "Alamo".
File:AstraMk1Missile.jpg|[[Astra (missile)|Astra Mk.1]] on static display.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Air-to-air missile]]
;Beyond-visual-range missiles
* [[AAM-4]]
* [[AIM-7 Sparrow]]
* [[AIM-54 Phoenix]]
* [[AIM-120 AMRAAM|AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Missile]]
* [[Astra (missile)]]
* [[Bozdoğan (missile)]]
* [[Python (missile)#Derby|Derby]]
* [[K-100 (missile)]]
* [[Meteor (missile)]]
* [[MICA (missile)]]
* [[Novator KS-172]]
* [[PL-12|PL-12 (SD-10)]]
* [[PL-21]]
* [[Python (missile)]]
* [[R-27 (air-to-air missile)]]
* [[R-33 (missile)]]
* [[R-37 (missile)]]
* [[R-40 (missile)]]
* [[R-77]]
* [[R-Darter]]
* [[Sky Sword I]]
* [[Skyflash]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beyond Visual Range Missile}}
[[Category:Air-to-air missiles]]
[[Category:Missile types]]

Beyond-visual-range missile - Revision history

>FirstDagger at 15:01, 16 August 2021