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AIM-54 Phoenix
The AIM-54 Phoenix is an American active radar-guided, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (AAM), carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only operational launch platform.
The AIM-54 Phoenix was the United States' only operational long-range AAM during its service life; its operational capabilities were supplemented by the AIM-7 Sparrow (and later, the AIM-120 AMRAAM), which served as the primary medium-range AAM and the AIM-9 Sidewinder, serving as the primary short-range or "dogfight" AAM. The combination of Phoenix missile and the Tomcat's AN/AWG-9 guidance radar meant that it was the first aerial weapons system that could simultaneously engage multiple targets. Due to its active radar tracking, the brevity code "Fox Three" was used when firing the AIM-54. The act of the missile achieving a radar lock with its own radar is known under brevity as "Going Pitbull".
Both the missile and the aircraft were used by Iran and the United States Navy (USN). In US service both are now retired, the AIM-54 Phoenix in 2004 and the F-14 in 2006. They were replaced by the shorter-range AIM-120 AMRAAM, employed on the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; in its AIM-120D version, the latest version of the AMRAAM just matches the Phoenix's maximum range. In July 2024, the USN announced the operational fielding of the AIM-174, the "Air-Launched Configuration" of the RIM-174 Standard ERAM, the first dedicated long-range AAM to be fielded by the U.S. military since the AIM-54's retirement.
The AIM-54 has been used in 62 air-to-air strikes, all by Iran during the eight-year Iran–Iraq War. Following the retirement of the F-14 by the USN, the weapon's only current operator is the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
Since 1951, the Navy faced the initial threat from the Tupolev Tu-4K 'Bull' carrying anti-ship missiles or nuclear bombs.
Eventually, during the height of the Cold War, the threat would have expanded into regimental-size raids of Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22M Backfire bombers equipped with low-flying, long-range, high-speed, nuclear-armed cruise missiles and considerable electronic countermeasures (ECM) of various types. This combination was considered capable of saturating fleet defenses and threatening carrier groups.
The Navy would require a long-range, long-endurance interceptor aircraft to defend carrier battle groups against this threat. The proposed Douglas F6D Missileer was intended to fulfill this mission and oppose the attack as far as possible from the fleet it was defending. The weapon needed for interceptor aircraft, the Bendix AAM-N-10 Eagle, was to be an air-to-air missile of unprecedented range when compared to contemporary AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. It would work together with Westinghouse AN/APQ-81 radar. The Missileer project was cancelled in December 1960.
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy made the next interceptor attempt with the F-111B, and they needed a new missile design. At the same time, the USAF canceled the projects for their land-based high-speed interceptor aircraft, the North American XF-108 Rapier and the Lockheed YF-12, and left the capable AIM-47 Falcon missile at a quite advanced stage of development, but with no effective launch platform.
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AIM-54 Phoenix
The AIM-54 Phoenix is an American active radar-guided, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (AAM), carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only operational launch platform.
The AIM-54 Phoenix was the United States' only operational long-range AAM during its service life; its operational capabilities were supplemented by the AIM-7 Sparrow (and later, the AIM-120 AMRAAM), which served as the primary medium-range AAM and the AIM-9 Sidewinder, serving as the primary short-range or "dogfight" AAM. The combination of Phoenix missile and the Tomcat's AN/AWG-9 guidance radar meant that it was the first aerial weapons system that could simultaneously engage multiple targets. Due to its active radar tracking, the brevity code "Fox Three" was used when firing the AIM-54. The act of the missile achieving a radar lock with its own radar is known under brevity as "Going Pitbull".
Both the missile and the aircraft were used by Iran and the United States Navy (USN). In US service both are now retired, the AIM-54 Phoenix in 2004 and the F-14 in 2006. They were replaced by the shorter-range AIM-120 AMRAAM, employed on the F/A-18 Hornet and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet; in its AIM-120D version, the latest version of the AMRAAM just matches the Phoenix's maximum range. In July 2024, the USN announced the operational fielding of the AIM-174, the "Air-Launched Configuration" of the RIM-174 Standard ERAM, the first dedicated long-range AAM to be fielded by the U.S. military since the AIM-54's retirement.
The AIM-54 has been used in 62 air-to-air strikes, all by Iran during the eight-year Iran–Iraq War. Following the retirement of the F-14 by the USN, the weapon's only current operator is the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force.
Since 1951, the Navy faced the initial threat from the Tupolev Tu-4K 'Bull' carrying anti-ship missiles or nuclear bombs.
Eventually, during the height of the Cold War, the threat would have expanded into regimental-size raids of Tu-16 Badger and Tu-22M Backfire bombers equipped with low-flying, long-range, high-speed, nuclear-armed cruise missiles and considerable electronic countermeasures (ECM) of various types. This combination was considered capable of saturating fleet defenses and threatening carrier groups.
The Navy would require a long-range, long-endurance interceptor aircraft to defend carrier battle groups against this threat. The proposed Douglas F6D Missileer was intended to fulfill this mission and oppose the attack as far as possible from the fleet it was defending. The weapon needed for interceptor aircraft, the Bendix AAM-N-10 Eagle, was to be an air-to-air missile of unprecedented range when compared to contemporary AIM-7 Sparrow missiles. It would work together with Westinghouse AN/APQ-81 radar. The Missileer project was cancelled in December 1960.
In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy made the next interceptor attempt with the F-111B, and they needed a new missile design. At the same time, the USAF canceled the projects for their land-based high-speed interceptor aircraft, the North American XF-108 Rapier and the Lockheed YF-12, and left the capable AIM-47 Falcon missile at a quite advanced stage of development, but with no effective launch platform.