Sidewinders for Anti-Aircraft Defense
by James Dunnigan
February 22, 2006
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
he U.S. has successfully tested an AIM9X Sidewinder air-to-air
missile finding and hitting a target after being launched straight
up from the ground. The 9X version of the Sidewinder has a much
more sensitive heat seeker, as well as a wider arc the seeker can
sense, making it capable of operating like this. The purpose of the
test is to supply American submarines with an ability to take down
aircraft, particularly helicopters, that are hunting them. U.S.
nuclear attack subs have sensors that can detect a helicopter up
there, but lack a weapon to respond with. Anti-submarine
helicopters carry sensors (usually sonobuoys) that can get a more
precise fix on a sub, and torpedoes, with which to destroy the sub
below. The sub cannot outrun the helicopter. Actually, attempting
to do that would just make more noise for the sonobuoys to pick up.
Diving deeper won't work against the more modern torpedoes carried
by helicopters. Thus the need for a weapon that can bring down the
helicopter, before the sub takes a fatal torpedo hit. The
anti-aircraft weapon would probably be in the form of a capsule
released from a torpedo tube that, as it reached the surface, would
release the Sidewinder missile.
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200622205153.asp
