Aim9X sinks a surface target!

[Mugatu]

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/110558/aim_9x-sidewinder-hits-surface-target.html

[Eddie]

Read about this earlier in the week. It looks like the USAF have been getting ideas from some of the 1337 noob simmers out there. :D

[Frazer]

How hard can that be, a fast boat with a hot engine on water...........

[A.S]

Hmm, correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the 9x not also have optical shape track besides heat track?

[Eddie]

Hmm, correct me if im wrong, but doesnt the 9x not also have optical shape track besides heat track?

 

Yeah, like most modern IR AAMs it's imaging infrared.

[zakobi]

four more years and they can penetrate modern armor, and you can carry 220 pieces :D

(and A-10 can fly supersonic and use AB)

[tflash]

In fact, this makes incredible sense. It is also not something new: F-102 Delta Daggers used AIM-4D falcon missiles against ground targets on the Ho Chi Minh trail.

 

Remember aircraft are now flying around with some sidewinders for self-defense in Afghanistan, while the normal A2A threat is non-existant. Being able to engage some ground targets with it would be a welcome flexibility.

 

The only problem is that, unlike the AIM-4 Falcon, modern-day IR missiles have logic that actually that prevents use against ground targets. The whole idea is that in allow-level dogfight your missile isn't going berserk killing a chimney or a schoolbus on the ground.

 

A big part of the sophistication is to *avoid* hitting any random heat signature available. That's (one reason) why they use pattern recognition etc.

 

So I guess the added ground engagement capability involves some clever logic too. Of course, that doesn't make this missile a tank killer, but it could do away with a speeding technical or escape car.