AIM-9P vs radar acquisition

Hey everyone, I have some questions about the AIM-9P's acquisition. My understanding is the AIM-9P is not linked to the radar at all - so the AIM-9's tone you hear when it locks onto a target is coincidental to the radar lock (please correct me if I am wrong).

What happens when there are two targets to the front of you more or less the same distance away? How do you know if the AIM-9P is looking at the same target that you've locked onto? Isn't there a 50-50 chance that the missile will go after the other target?

I think the AIM-9P is a rear-aspect missile only...as in you need a solid heat signature to get a seeker head track and you may be double picking up the bandit with your gun-track radar at the same time your AIM-9P is slaving over to the heat mark...are you getting this same result from a head-to-head engagement? I think you are right, the lock and seeker tone "Growl" are coincidental. The all aspect AIM-9L "Lima" was the first sidewinder with all-aspect capabilities.

About your second part, if there are two targets and they are both hostile, you don't need to worry which one it will hit. Since it's a "Poppa" you are obviously on the bandits rear quarter or six and have both of them in the control zone. Fire away!

But, if one of them is your wingman, another friendly aircraft, or unknown, ROE should be to hold fire until they separate and you have a better SA on the bandit and who is priority one for the kill...and always be checking your Six!

Thanks =JUICE=, I think it's an all-aspect missile (according to Wikipedia), but I might test it out on a head-to-head engagement.

Yeah, so the concern is that even though the radar locks onto a bandit, if the missile does not speak to the FCS then it could be locked onto a friendly.

Thanks =JUICE=, I think it's an all-aspect missile (according to Wikipedia), but I might test it out on a head-to-head engagement.

 

Yeah, so the concern is that even though the radar locks onto a bandit, if the missile does not speak to the FCS then it could be locked onto a friendly.

The AIM-9P is rear aspect whereas the AIM-9P5 is all aspect.

I recommend watching this as Cap does a good job explaining the radar and how it works including firing missiles with a radar lock.

All of that being said though, the Sidewinder is an IR missile and regardless of radar lock will seek to the hottest signature in front of it. Ideally you don't want to fire if your friend is too close to your target as the missile can't determine who is friend or foe, rather just who is the hottest.

Hey everyone, I have some questions about the AIM-9P's acquisition. My understanding is the AIM-9P is not linked to the radar at all - so the AIM-9's tone you hear when it locks onto a target is coincidental to the radar lock (please correct me if I am wrong).

 

What happens when there are two targets to the front of you more or less the same distance away? How do you know if the AIM-9P is looking at the same target that you've locked onto? Isn't there a 50-50 chance that the missile will go after the other target?

You never really do know because the F-5 doesn't show where the seeker is pointing and it's seeker can not be slewed to the radar like in the AIM-9L/M carried by the Tomcat for example. That said, most of the time it should head for whatever is closest to the missile's boresight, since that will have the strongest IR emission in the seeker FoV. I imagine if you lock something and then keep the cross centered, your missile is much more likely to hit whatever you have locked.

Thanks everyone, interesting learning this stuff. Hope you don't mind me posting more random questions about the F-5 here.

Another random radar question, is there an auto elevate function for the radar, or do you have to manually adjust the radar's elevation all the time? I've got radar elevation mapped to a rotary on my throttle and it works quite well, it's just a bit cumbersome to have to manually move it up and down all the time to broaden the search.

Also, how many sweeps should the radar make along a certain degree before moving it up and down? And how many degrees up/down should you move it each time if you want to perform good search of the area?

Once you've locked something the antenna will track the target, otherwise you need to adjust elevation manually.

I don't know about the search area though. The F-5's radar is basic enough that you only really use it when you have a good idea of where a target is, rather than to actively search for them if that makes sense.

Thanks for confirming, TLTeo.

Hey everyone, I have some questions about the AIM-9P's acquisition. My understanding is the AIM-9P is not linked to the radar at all - so the AIM-9's tone you hear when it locks onto a target is coincidental to the radar lock (please correct me if I am wrong).

 

What happens when there are two targets to the front of you more or less the same distance away? How do you know if the AIM-9P is looking at the same target that you've locked onto? Isn't there a 50-50 chance that the missile will go after the other target?

In basic terms, the radar is not used to guide the missile. The radar is only there to help the pilot locate a possible target.

The AIM-9 missile only uses heat from the sun or airplane exhaust to guide and track itself to the target. Some people call it heat seeking missiles for this reason.

Different versions of the AIM-9 have different capabilities, in the case of the AIM-9P it can only track a target looking from the rear (rear aspect).

The AIM-9P5 / AIM-9M / AIM-9X can detect and track a target's heat when you approach it at any angle.