"eXistenZ" wrote in message
...
Anyone who knows the answer to this Question Please help me in any way
possible,.
To The Nearest Tenth of a Mile, What is the Maximum Range of a AIM-54A
Phoenix Air to Air Missile?
The longest-ranged AIM-54A-shot I've ever heard so far was scored during
some kind of a testing, against a high+fast flying drone, in early 1979s.
The missile hit the target 204km from the launching point ( i.e. after
indeed crossing 204km).
The longest-ranged shot for a kill was scored in December 1981, when two
IRIAF F-14As engaged four incoming Iraqi Mirage F.1EQs. The Tomcats fired
several AIM-54As from a distance of some 140km+.
Their kills were confirmed by independent sources (including US, Iranian,
Iraqi, and Saudi).
Few years later there should've been an even more spectacular shot that
killed a fast accelerating-away (Soviet-flown) Iraqi MiG-25, but I don't
have all the details about that case, so can't call it a "confirmed" as of
yet.
most military websites claim 100 Nautical miles
while other sites say 110 nautical miles,.
Eventually, this should depend on the version: most of books from the 1980s
state the range of the AIM-54A was "100nm". Most of the books from the 1990s
state the range of the AIM-54C was "up to "110nm".
It was definitely never more than this: quite on the contrary, the usual
engagement ranges in combat were between 40 and 70km.
Tom Cooper
Freelance Aviation Journalist & Historian
Vienna, Austria
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Author:
Iran-Iraq War in the Air, 1980-1988:
http://www.acig.org/pg1/content.php
Iranian F-4 Phantom II Units in Combat
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...hp/title=S6585
African MiGs
http://www.acig.org/afmig/
Arab MiG-19 & MiG-21 Units in Combat
http://www.ospreypublishing.com/titl...=S6550~ser=COM
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