Have Dash
Have Dash was a US Air Force program to develop a stealth - medium-range air-to-air missile .
description
Have Dash I
Little is known about the Have Dash I. The missile, which is regarded as a "classified project", was under development at the USAF Armament Laboratory from 1985 to 1988 and was to be specially designed for the use of stealth aircraft. Have Dash I failed in the conception phase for unknown reasons; no missile was ever built.
Have Dash II
In 1990 the Have Dash program was reactivated. The missile now known as “Have Dash II” was to be adapted for the “Advanced Tactical Fighter” program and later to replace the recently introduced AIM-120 AMRAAM .
The missile was made of composite materials and had a trapezoidal shape. This aerodynamically rather unfavorable shape was chosen in order to reduce the radar cross-section, to better absorb the frictional heat at high speeds (the target operating speed was Mach 5, but this was never reached during the test program) and to enable better lift after the rocket launch. The prototype was equipped with the Rocketdyne Mk 58 solid rocket motor of the AIM-7 Sparrow to save costs. In contrast, a ramjet engine was planned for series production . A dual system of infrared viewfinder and active radar was provided for route guidance.
At the beginning of 1992 some test shots were carried out with the Have Dash II, with no results being published. Shortly afterwards, the entire program was discontinued and partially used for the further development of the AIM-120 AMRAAM .
Technical specifications
- Length: 3.60 m
- Weight: 180 kg
- Speed: approx. Mach 4
- Range: over 50 km
- Propulsion: Rocketdyne MK 58 MOD 5 solid rocket motor