Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
R.550 Magic
The R.550 Magic (backronym for Missile Auto-Guidé Interception et Combat) is a short-range air-to-air missile designed in 1965 by French company Matra to compete with the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, and it was made backwards compatible with the Sidewinder launch hardware.
Developed originally as a short-range infrared air-to-air missile, the R.550 was meant to be France's lighter short-range missile, replacing the previous heavy R.530. During a trial on 11 January 1965, a Gloster Meteor of the centre for in-flight trials fired an R.550 Magic and shot down a Nord CT20 target drone.
The Magic was then mass-produced from 1967. The Magic was adopted by the French Air Force and Navy for active service.
An upgraded version, the Magic 2, replaced the original model in 1986. In total, 11,300 Magics (7,000 Magic 1s and 4,000 Magic 2s) were produced; they were exported, notably to Iraq and Greece, who used them in combat.
The Magic has been used by the Dassault Rafale, Dassault Mirage 2000, F-16, Sea Harrier (FRS51), MiG-21, Super Étendard, Mirage F1, Mirage 5, and Mirage III. However, the R.550 is gradually being replaced by the MBDA MICA. 480 Magics were sold to Taiwan and are used by the Republic of China Air Force's Mirage 2000s.
The PL-7 is the Chinese reversed-engineered version of the R.550 Magic 1.
The Magic has four fixed fins, four movable fins directly behind the fixed fins, and four notched fins on the tail. As the canards move to guide the missile to the target, small vortices generated by the canards impart roll moments on the tail fins, which can slow the roll attempted by the missile, or even roll reversal. To prevent interfering moments from the tail, the fins are mounted on bearings allowing the tail fins to spin freely. This is in contrast with the AIM-9, which makes use of "rollerons," which are slipstream driven gyros mounted on the tail fins which stabilize the missile in three axes, and have no fixed fin "canards" forward of the moving fins. Its diameter is larger than the Sidewinder's, which is 5 inches (127 mm) and a legacy of the US Navy's five-inch rocket, from which the AIM-9 is derived; the larger diameter simplified engineering. It has a Romeo solid-fuel engine, and can engage the target independently from the firing aircraft with its all-aspect cooled infrared homing system. The homing system utilizes sulfur lead granting it a high sensitivity and immunity to noise, or thermal clutter. The missile can attain track through information transmitted (prior to launch) by the aircraft's radar system, helmet mounted target designation system, optoelectronic sighting system, or through merely being pointed at the target and then being uncaged (allowing the seeker head to move freely on the gimbal onboard the missile).
The missile has no minimum launch speed, making it a prime candidate for arming helicopters which often fly at significantly lower speeds than fighter fixed-wing platforms. It utilizes a silver-zinc battery to power its electronics.
Hub AI
R.550 Magic AI simulator
(@R.550 Magic_simulator)
R.550 Magic
The R.550 Magic (backronym for Missile Auto-Guidé Interception et Combat) is a short-range air-to-air missile designed in 1965 by French company Matra to compete with the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, and it was made backwards compatible with the Sidewinder launch hardware.
Developed originally as a short-range infrared air-to-air missile, the R.550 was meant to be France's lighter short-range missile, replacing the previous heavy R.530. During a trial on 11 January 1965, a Gloster Meteor of the centre for in-flight trials fired an R.550 Magic and shot down a Nord CT20 target drone.
The Magic was then mass-produced from 1967. The Magic was adopted by the French Air Force and Navy for active service.
An upgraded version, the Magic 2, replaced the original model in 1986. In total, 11,300 Magics (7,000 Magic 1s and 4,000 Magic 2s) were produced; they were exported, notably to Iraq and Greece, who used them in combat.
The Magic has been used by the Dassault Rafale, Dassault Mirage 2000, F-16, Sea Harrier (FRS51), MiG-21, Super Étendard, Mirage F1, Mirage 5, and Mirage III. However, the R.550 is gradually being replaced by the MBDA MICA. 480 Magics were sold to Taiwan and are used by the Republic of China Air Force's Mirage 2000s.
The PL-7 is the Chinese reversed-engineered version of the R.550 Magic 1.
The Magic has four fixed fins, four movable fins directly behind the fixed fins, and four notched fins on the tail. As the canards move to guide the missile to the target, small vortices generated by the canards impart roll moments on the tail fins, which can slow the roll attempted by the missile, or even roll reversal. To prevent interfering moments from the tail, the fins are mounted on bearings allowing the tail fins to spin freely. This is in contrast with the AIM-9, which makes use of "rollerons," which are slipstream driven gyros mounted on the tail fins which stabilize the missile in three axes, and have no fixed fin "canards" forward of the moving fins. Its diameter is larger than the Sidewinder's, which is 5 inches (127 mm) and a legacy of the US Navy's five-inch rocket, from which the AIM-9 is derived; the larger diameter simplified engineering. It has a Romeo solid-fuel engine, and can engage the target independently from the firing aircraft with its all-aspect cooled infrared homing system. The homing system utilizes sulfur lead granting it a high sensitivity and immunity to noise, or thermal clutter. The missile can attain track through information transmitted (prior to launch) by the aircraft's radar system, helmet mounted target designation system, optoelectronic sighting system, or through merely being pointed at the target and then being uncaged (allowing the seeker head to move freely on the gimbal onboard the missile).
The missile has no minimum launch speed, making it a prime candidate for arming helicopters which often fly at significantly lower speeds than fighter fixed-wing platforms. It utilizes a silver-zinc battery to power its electronics.