Sound seaking missiles

[Kartoffel]

Why haven't sound seaking missiles been made? Sure it can't track on supersonic planes, but you wont be attacking a lot of them in missile range.

 

What do you guys think?

[Retu81]

First thing that comes to mind is how you filter the noise of the airflow caused by the missile's flight from the target noise. The microphone would be drowned out.

[Emu]

And the noise from the rocket motor.

[GeorgeLKMT]

And the fact the sound is really slow. On longer distances, by the time you hear the enemy fighter, he might as well be already on the base in his pyjamas.

[Emu]

Yes, control lag would definitely be an issue.

[cichlidfan]

The general answer would be because they don't work. There is a reason that sonar is not used by aircraft.

[Kartoffel]

And the noise from the rocket motor.

 

Usually the missile would be going supersonic

[Kartoffel]

Yes, control lag would definitely be an issue.

 

That is what I was afraid of

[Emu]

Usually the missile would be going supersonic

Sound travels faster through solid objects.

[razo+r]

And how do you want to guide a missile who's reacting to noise?

[cichlidfan]

And how do you want to guide a missile who's reacting to noise?

 

By yelling at it, of course. :doh:

 

:D

[QuiGon]

There is too much noise I'd say. And Sound isn't as effective in the air as it is in water (e.g. it doesn't travel as far).

[OutOnTheOP]

I know the US Army experimented with sound-homing guided antitank artillery munitions. I would have sworn it was part of the SADARM program, but I can't find anything on it by searching SADARM. I do recall seeing a mockup in the artillery museum at Ft Sill, though; it was a fairly large submunition for MLRS, which had large unswept cruciform mid-body wings that had probes on the wingtips (with the microphone transducers on the probes, I guess?) It was supposed to home on engine noise.

[razo+r]

By yelling at it, of course. :doh:

 

:D

 

LOL :)

 

Best thing to do yeah, but unfortunately/luckily we haven't invented any mic yet which knows the heading of a sound source...

[Bushmanni]

There a microphone systems that can calculate firing point of a bullet that zips past the microphones. You need multiple microphones for this but it's done already. And if there are systems that can home in on EM wave sources doing the same with sound waves would work pretty much the same (as long as you have a clean signal which could be a problem with sound). For example you could build the equivalent of a monopulse antenna using microphones and apply the same signal processing to it and you have a sound homing seeker. Theoretically there's nothing stopping you building sound seeking missiles but the nature of sound waves in air makes it impractical.