Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket
The Mk. 4 FFAR ( F olding F in A erial R ocket, German rocket with fold-out stabilizers ), also called Mighty Mouse after a well-known cartoon character , is an air-to-air rocket from the 1950s, which is the German R4M is modeled on.
commitment
The missile was fired from a barrel. The stabilizers (fins) were initially rolled around the body of the rocket and unfolded shortly after leaving the tube. The rockets were fired together and exploded some distance in front of the plane the size of a football field. In this way, enemy bombers should be destroyed from a distance beyond the range of their on-board weapons. It was mainly used in the Lockheed F-94C Starfire interceptor .
Further development
However, it turned out that the missile could only be used to a limited extent as a weapon for combating air targets. Because of their large dispersion, they were seen as more suitable as a weapon for combating ground targets. For this purpose it was further developed into the Mk. 40: The rocket motor of the Mk. 4 was used as the basic module of the Mk. 40 air-to-ground missile , on which various warheads could be mounted. In the further developed version, the weapon for ground support was massively used by aircraft and helicopters in the Vietnam War .
This type of missile is still being developed and used today as the FFAR 2.75 "Mk. 70 ' Hydra ' air-to-ground missile .
Technical specifications
- Main function: originally unguided air-to-air missile (Mk. 4), subsequently unguided air-to-surface missile (Mk. 40)
- Commissioning: 1950s
- Range: 3 400 m
- Combat weight: 8.4 kg
- Length: 1.20 m
- Diameter: 2.75 "(approx. 70 mm)
- Ignition: impact , approach
- Warhead: 2.7 kg
Carrier vehicles used
