The
General DynamicsGeneral Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. The company has changed markedly in the post-Cold War era of defense consolidation. The company has four main business segments:...
FIM-43 Redeye was a man-portable
surface-to-air missileA Surface to Air Missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system....
system. It used infrared homing to track its target. Production was terminated in September 1969 after about 85,000 rounds had been built - in anticipation of the Redeye II, which would later become the
FIM-92 StingerThe FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
. The Redeye was withdrawn gradually between 1982 and 1995 as the Stinger was deployed.
Development
In 1948 the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
began looking for new infantry air-defense weapons, as machine guns were proving ineffective against new fast jets. Several gun/rocket systems were investigated but none showed enough promise to pursue. In the mid 1950s
ConvairThe Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, commonly known as Convair, was a United States aerospace development and manufacturing complex of the 1940s and later. It was formed in 1943 from a merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. The merger produced one of the world's larger...
began studies of a man portable infrared guided missile. In November 1956 the results of these studies were shown to the US Army and
USMCThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. In 1957 official requirements were formulated, and in 1958 Convair was awarded a contract to start development of the system.
In July 1959 the development project began, in March 1960, the first test rounds were fired. Launches from a launch tube followed in May 1961, with a shoulder launch occurring in 1961. Technical problems prevented the missile entering full production: the missile did not live up to its specifications - being slower, less maneuverable and less accurate. During the testing, substantial use was made of the Atlantic Research MQR-16
Gunrunner expendable target missile.
Limited production began as XM41 Redeye Block I. The missile was designated XMIM-43A in June 1963. Block I systems were then evaluated between 1965 and 1966.
Block II systems designated XM41E1 began development in 1964, the missile being designated XMIM-43B. The missiles were delivered in April 1966, and included a new gas-cooled detector cell, a slightly redesigned launcher and an improved warhead.
In 1965 to 1966 General Dynamics developed the final Redeye Block III configuration, designated at first XM41E2 with XFIM-43C missiles. The missiles retained the seeker from the Block II missile, but included a new rocket motor, warhead and fuse. The launcher also now had an XM-62 open sight and upgraded electronics. The new missile could turn at up to 3g. The missile achieved a kill probability against F9F tactical drones travelling at 430 knots at an altitude of 100 meters of 0.51. From this it was calculated that the kill probability versus a
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft, designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. It was popularly nicknamed "balalaika", from the aircraft's planform-view resemblance to the Russian stringed musical instrument or ołówek by Polish...
at similar altitude would be 0.403, and 0.53 against helicopters (specifically the
Mi-6MI-6 can refer to:*the Soviet built transport helicopter Mil Mi-6*The United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service, colloquially known as MI6*M-6...
and US H-13 and H-21). Kill probability against larger propeller driven aircraft like the AN-12 was estimated at 0.43 . Production of the Block III systems began in May 1967. In 1968 Block III was finally declared operational.
History
50 Redeye systems were delivered to the Mujahideen by the US during the
Soviet war in AfghanistanThe Soviet War in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet–Afghan War, was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan at their own request, against the Islamist Mujahideen Resistance...
in 1984, where they were used to shoot down a number of aircraft including several Su-25 jets as well as Mi-24 and
Mi-8MI-8 may refer to:* MI8, the WWII British signals intelligence agency* Mil Mi-8, the Soviet-designed helicopter* Mitten im 8en, an Austrian TV soap/comedy series* Black Chamber, the United States' first peacetime cryptanalytic organization...
helicopters . By November 1985 it had largely been replaced by the dramatically more successful
FIM-92 StingerThe FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
missiles.
The Redeye was known as
Hamlet in
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
service and as RBS 69 in Swedish service.
Description
The missile is fired from the M171 missile launcher. First the seeker is cooled to operating temperature, the operator then begins visually tracking the target - using the sight unit on the launcher. Once the target is locked onto by the missile a buzzer in the launcher hand grip begins vibrating, alerting the operator. The operator then presses the trigger, which fires the initial booster stage and launches the missile out of the tube at a speed of around 80 feet per second (25 m/s). As the missile leaves the tube spring-loaded fins pop out, 4 stabilizing tail fins at the back of the missile, and two control surfaces at the front of the missile. Once the missile has traveled six meters, the sustainer motor ignites. The sustainer motor takes the missile to its peak velocity of Mach 1.7 in 5.8 seconds. 1.25 seconds after the sustainer is ignited, the warhead is armed.
The missile's seeker is only capable of tracking the hot exhausts of aircraft, which limits the engagements to tail-chase only. The missile's blast fragmentation warhead is triggered by an impact
fuzeIn an explosive, pyrotechnic device or military munition, a fuse is the part of the device that initiates function. In common usage, the word fuse is used indiscriminately...
requiring a direct hit. As a first generation missile it is susceptible to a variety of
countermeasureA countermeasure is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target....
s including
flaresA flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signaling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
and hot brick jammers. In addition, its inability to manoeuver at a rate greater than 3 G means that it can be simply out turned if it is spotted.
Variants
- Block I FIM-43/XFIM-43A/XMIM-43A -
- Block II FIM-43B/XFIM-43B/XMIM-43B - Fitted with a gas cooled seeker and improved warhead and fuse and modified launcher.
- XFEM-43B Experimental test missile, with data logging capability
- Block III FIM-43C/XFIM-43C Production version - Improved warhead and fuse section, and a new launcher.
- XFEM-43C Experimental test missile, with data logging capability
- FIM-43D Upgraded missile, with unknown capabilities.
Comparison chart
| System |
9K32M Strela-2MThe 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...
(missile: 9M32M) |
9K34 Strela-3The 9K34 Strela-3 man-portable air defence missile system was developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela 2 system. "9K34" is its GRAU designation and its NATO reporting name is SA-14 Gremlin. The missile was largely based on the earlier Strela...
(missile: 9M36) |
FIM-43C Redeye |
| Service entry |
1968 |
1974 |
1968 |
Weight of system
ready to shoot |
15 kg |
16 kg |
13.3 kg |
| Missile weight |
9.8 kg |
10.3 kg |
8.3 kg |
| Length |
1.44 m |
1.47 m |
1.40 m |
| Warhead weight |
1.17 kg |
1.17 kg |
1.06 kg |
| Warhead type |
Directed-energy
blast fragmentation |
Directed-energy
blast fragmentation |
Blast fragmentation (M222) |
| Warhead explosive content |
0.37 kg HMXHMX, also called octogen, is a powerful and relatively insensitive nitroamine high explosive, chemically related to RDX. Like RDX, the name has been variously listed as High Melting eXplosive, Her Majesty's eXplosive, High-velocity Military eXplosive, or High-Molecular-weight rdX...
|
0.37 kg HMXHMX, also called octogen, is a powerful and relatively insensitive nitroamine high explosive, chemically related to RDX. Like RDX, the name has been variously listed as High Melting eXplosive, Her Majesty's eXplosive, High-velocity Military eXplosive, or High-Molecular-weight rdX...
and 20g secondary charge |
0.36 kg HTA-3HMX, also called octogen, is a powerful and relatively insensitive nitroamine high explosive, chemically related to RDX. Like RDX, the name has been variously listed as High Melting eXplosive, Her Majesty's eXplosive, High-velocity Military eXplosive, or High-Molecular-weight rdX...
|
| Missile engagement aspect |
Tail-chase A tail-chase engagement is one where a surface-to-air missile system or jet aircraft engages another aircraft while the target aircraft is flying away from the attacker...
only |
Limited forward hemisphere
(all-aspectAn all-aspect missile is one which is able to track a target no matter which way the target faces relative to the missile. In other words, an all-aspect missile can be launched against a target in a tail-chase engagement, in a head-on engagement, in a side-on engagement, from above, from below,...
) capability |
Tail-chase only |
| Seeker type |
Uncooled
PbS detector element
(1–2.8 µm sensitivity range). |
Nitrogen-cooled
PbS detector element
(2–4.3 µm sensitivity range). |
Gas-cooled
PbS detector element (FIM-43A: Peltier cooled) |
| Seeker modulation |
AM-modulated (spin scan) |
FM-modulated (conical scan) |
AM-modulated |
| Maximum range |
4,200 m |
4,100 m |
4,500 m |
| Missile speed |
500 m/s |
450 m/s |
580 m/s |
| Maximum speed target speed |
260 m/s (receding) |
310 m/s (receding) |
225 m/s |
| Engagement altitude |
0.05-2.3 km |
0.03-2.3 ... 3.0 km |
0.05-2.7 km |
Users
: Replaced by
FIM-92 StingerThe FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981. Used by the militaries of the U.S...
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
No Longer in Active Service: Turkish Landforces and Turkish Forces in Northern Cyprus uses an unknown number.
External links