AIM-97 Seekbat

AIM-97 Seekbat
Type	Air-to-air missile
Place of origin	United States
Production history
Manufacturer	General Dynamics
Specifications
Mass	1,300 pounds (590 kg)
Length	15 feet (4.6 m)
Diameter	13.5 inches (340 mm)
Wingspan	42.5 inches (1,080 mm)
Warhead	Blast-fragmentation
Engine	Aerojet MK 27 dual-thrust solid-fuel rocket
Operational range	56 miles (90 km)
Flight ceiling	80,000 feet (24,000 m)
Maximum speed	>Mach 3
Guidance system	Passive radar homing with terminal infrared homing
Launch platform	Aircraft

The AIM-97 Seekbat or XAIM-97A Seek Bat was a long-range air-to-air missile developed by the United States. It was intended to counter the perceived capabilities of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 and proposed to arm both the F-15 Eagle and F-4 Phantom, ^[1] the missile ultimately never entered service.

Overview

In the early to mid-1970s the United States was highly concerned by the perceived capabilities of the MiG-25, an aircraft which was known to be capable of speeds in excess of Mach 3 and which carried long-range air-to-air missiles. ^[2] It was widely claimed that the Foxbat was a new generation "super-fighter", capable of comfortably outclassing any US or allied aircraft. The US initiated the F-15 Eagle program largely in response to this threat. To equip the F-15 the Air Force initiated development of the AIM-82 short-range missile and the AIM-97 Seekbat. The former was a dogfighting missile intended as a replacement for the AIM-9 Sidewinder, the latter was to be a new high-altitude long-range missile designed specifically to shoot down the MiG-25 - hence the name "Seekbat", the "bat" referring to the MiG-25's "Foxbat" NATO reporting name. ^[3]

The Seekbat was based on the AGM-78 Standard ARM. It had a modified propulsion unit and used an AGM-78 passive radar seeker tuned to MiG-25 radar frequencies ^[2] and infrared seeker for terminal guidance of the missile. ^[3] The operational ceiling was 80,000 ft (24,000 m). ^[2]

Test firings began in late 1972, ^[a] but the Seekbat program did not make a great deal of progress and was cancelled in 1976. ^[2] By this time new knowledge of the MiG-25s capabilities and role led to the cancellation of the program because the missile's cost and, specialization towards the MiG-25's radar frequencies, ^[2] did not justify its procurement.^{[ citation needed ]}

See also

• Brazo
• R-27 (air-to-air missile)
• AIM-174B

References

Notes

1. Hewish in his March 1974 article states that the missile had been "...undergoing flight-test for more than a year." ^[3]

1. Thornborough & Davies 1994 , p. 140
2. Parsch 2002
3. Hewish 1974 , p. A16

Bibliography

• Hewish, Mark (1974-03-14). "World Missile Yearbook". Flight International . IPC Transport Press Ltd. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
• Hewish, Mark (1975-05-08). "World Missile Survey". Flight International. IPC Transport Press Ltd. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
• Hewish, Mark (1976-05-29). "World Missiles". Flight International. IPC Transport Press Ltd. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
• Parsch, Andreas (2002). "General Dynamics AIM-97 Seekbat". Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
• Thornborough, Anthony M.; Davies, Peter E. (1994). The Phantom Story. Arms & Armour Press. ISBN   1-85409-121-2.