Misplaced Pages

R.530

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Matra R.530) Short-range air-to-air missile
Matra R.530
An R530 exhibited at the South African Air Force Museum, Swartkop
TypeShort-range air-to-air missile
Place of originFrance
Service history
In service1962
Production history
ManufacturerMatra
Specifications
Mass192 kg
Length3.28 m
Diameter263 mm
Wingspan1.1 m
Warhead weight27.2 kg
EngineTwo-stage solid rocket, Hotchkiss-Brandt/SNPE Antoinette rocket
83.3 kN for 2.7 s + 6.5 s cruise
Operational
range		1.5 to 20 km
Maximum speed Mach 2.7
Guidance
system		Semi active radar homing and infrared homing
Launch
platform		Dassault Mirage F1
Dassault Mirage III
F-8 Crusader

The Matra R.530 is a French medium to short range air-to-air missile. It was available in infrared homing and semi active radar homing as the main armament of the Mirage III which was able to carry a single missile in the centerline, the Mirage F1, which carried up to three, utilizing wing hardpoints, and the F-8 Crusader, also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.

Operational history

The Israeli Heyl Ha'Avir (IDF/AF) purchased 15 semi-active radar-homing R.530 missiles from France, along with three training rounds and eight launch pylons, to go with the new Mirage IIICJ "Shahak". It was intended to complement the domestic Rafael Shafrir infrared-homing air-to-air missile. The missile was christened "Yahalom" (Hebrew for "diamond") in Israeli service and was issued to the No. 110 and No. 117 squadrons for their quick reaction alert (QRA) aircraft. Both squadrons achieved weapons qualification in 1964.

On 29 November 1966, an Israeli Air Force Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian MiG-19s which were trying to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance Piper J-3 Cub in Israeli airspace. The first MiG was destroyed with an R.530 fired from less than a mile away, marking the first aerial kill for the missile. The second MiG-19 was destroyed with cannon fire.

During the Six-Day War, the R.530, as was common for early air-to-air missiles in the 1960s, proved to be chronically unreliable and difficult to use, especially in the close-range dogfights that characterized aerial combat in the war. The R.530 required a radar lock from the Cyrano radar of the Mirage III in order to be launched, but the Cyrano radar was severely hampered by ground clutter at low altitude, where most air combat took place during the Six-Day War, rendering the R.530 nearly useless. The weapon failed to achieve any kills during the Six-Day War.

Gallery

Former operators

 Argentina
 Australia
 Brazil
 France
 Israel
 Jordan
 Lebanon
 Libya
 Morocco
 Pakistan
 South Africa
 Spain
 Venezuela
 Qatar

See also

Related development:

Similar weapons

References

Citations
  1. ^ "R.530 Missile". South African Air Force Association. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  2. ^ Misiles Aéreos Modernos (Editorial San Martín)
  3. "Matra R530". Speedy look. Archived from the original on 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  4. ^ Aloni, Shlomo. Duel 28: Mirage III vs. MiG-21. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010. ISBN 978-1-84603-947-8.
  5. "Israeli Pilot Shoots Down Two Egyptian Soviet-made Mig Jets". 30 November 1966.
  6. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 242
  7. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 71
  8. Moralez, Joao Paulo. "On target! A brief history of the MAA-1 Piranha". Revista Pucará. No. 23. p. 13.
  9. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, pp. 362–363
  10. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 24
  11. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 140
  12. Cooper, Tom; Grandolini, Albert; Delalande, Arnaud (2016). Libyan Air Wars, Part 3: 1986-1989. Helion & Company Publishing. p. 37. ISBN 978-1-910294-54-3.
  13. Cooper, Tom; Grandolini, Albert; Fontanellaz, Adrien (2019). Showdown in Western Sahara, Volume 2: Air Warfare Over the Last African Colony, 1975-1991. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-912866-29-8.
  14. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 155
  15. Fontanellaz, Adrien; Cooper, Tom; Matos, Jose Augusto (2021). War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 4: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1985-1987. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-914059-25-4.
  16. Chenel, Liébert & Moreau 2014, p. 216
Bibliography
  • Chenel, Bernard; Liébert, Michel; Moreau, Eric (2014). Mirage III/5/50 en service à l'étranger. Le Vigen, France: Editions LELA Presse. ISBN 978-2-914017-76-3.
Categories: