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  #1  
Old 02-28-2017, 01:10 PM
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pterodactyl pterodactyl is offline
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Default The AIM-4D "Killer" Missile

The AIM4-D Falcon was indeed a crummy infrared missile.

On the plus side the Falcon had an excellent cooled seeker head made of indium antimonide which was comparable to the best AIM-9 L/M seeker material in use at the time.
However, it's downside flaws were just too big to overcome and rendered the weapon ineffective.

First the Falcon had enormous 'prep time' or preparation time compared to other missiles. From the the time the pilot squeezed the trigger to when the missile came off the rails could be as much as 14 seconds. Fourteen seconds! An eternity in the air-air combat world.
Once the missile was ready to fire there was only sufficient seeker head cooling gas for about 2.5 minutes. After that time the missile would not be able to acquire an IR target. Equivalent Sidewinder seeker heads of the day were continuously cooled and had very short response time after firing button actuation.
Once the thing came off the rails its turning capability was hindered by an overly stable, rear control fin configuration (great for scale Falcon mod rocs, not so great for a combat missile). Finally it had contact fusing in the leading edge of the fins and a puny 2.5 pound warhead with NO frag at all. It just used re-kitted missile parts from the explosion to add to its punch.

As GH has said elsewhere, Robin Olds did indeed hate the thing and ordered it out of his Wing.
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  #2  
Old 03-01-2017, 11:43 AM
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The Falcon was a cool LOOKING missile, but operationally it was a disaster.
There was a "long range" Super-Falcon, A Nuclear-Falcon, and a radar-guided Falcon as well.
I don't believe any of the versions other than the IR-homing one was ever deployed/operational.
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Old 03-01-2017, 02:07 PM
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Joe Wooten Joe Wooten is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
The Falcon was a cool LOOKING missile, but operationally it was a disaster.
There was a "long range" Super-Falcon, A Nuclear-Falcon, and a radar-guided Falcon as well.
I don't believe any of the versions other than the IR-homing one was ever deployed/operational.



I believe the nuclear tipped one was briefly operational. Carried by F106 interceptors.
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Old 03-01-2017, 02:38 PM
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Joe- Did not know that about the Nuclear Falcon. Probably the only one that would be effective for it's intended purpose.
Did that replace the unguided Genie nuclear rocket in the F-106 deployable ordnance list ?
I know for a time Selfridge AFB/ANGB in SE Michigan had the F-106 before/alngside the F-4 which were replaced by the F-16 then the A-10.
Supposedly Selfridge is in the running to get a squadron of the most over-costly and over-rated fighter ever, the turd F-35. Wish we could get F-22's or even F-15C's instead.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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  #5  
Old 03-01-2017, 04:23 PM
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Jerry Irvine Jerry Irvine is offline
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Are all you guys nuclear deployed military?
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  #6  
Old 03-01-2017, 09:39 PM
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Yes we are; smart-aleck comments tend to start the detonation process.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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Old 03-02-2017, 05:33 AM
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Joe Wooten Joe Wooten is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Irvine
Are all you guys nuclear deployed military?


Nah, just have worked with a lot of ex-military guys over the years, mostly navy nukes, with a few AF/Army/Marines thrown in. Also 2 of my 4 sons are Marine infantrymen.
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Old 03-02-2017, 05:47 AM
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Joe Wooten Joe Wooten is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
Joe- Did not know that about the Nuclear Falcon. Probably the only one that would be effective for it's intended purpose.
Did that replace the unguided Genie nuclear rocket in the F-106 deployable ordnance list ?
I know for a time Selfridge AFB/ANGB in SE Michigan had the F-106 before/alngside the F-4 which were replaced by the F-16 then the A-10.
Supposedly Selfridge is in the running to get a squadron of the most over-costly and over-rated fighter ever, the turd F-35. Wish we could get F-22's or even F-15C's instead.


According to "U.S. Fighters" written by Lloyd Jones in 1975, the Falcon missile, also known briefly as the F-98 and GAR-1 and GAR-2, began production in 1954. They were used on the F-89, F-101,F-102 and F-106 fighters. The GAR-1 was radar guided, the GAR-2 was a heat seeker. The nuclear tipped version was the GAR-11. The book did not say if it was radar guided or a heat seeker. I'd bet on radar.

If I get time this afternoon, I'll scan the pages and post the scans.
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Old 03-02-2017, 07:29 AM
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According to Wiki, it used semi-active radar guidance.

Interesting...the nuke was the same one used in the Davy Crockett recoilless rifle "round".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIM-26_Falcon
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Old 03-02-2017, 11:31 AM
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They were definitely used on the USAF version F-4's before they adopted the far superior AIM-9x used by the USN.
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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL
, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !

Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !
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