NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Firestreak missile

The de Havilland Propellors Firestreak was the first effective British air-to-air missile. It used passive infrared homing. A weapons platform is generally any structure or system on which a weapon can be mounted. ... For other uses, see De Havilland (disambiguation). ... A US Navy VF-103 Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat fighter launches an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile. ... Infra-red homing refers to a guidance system which uses the infra-red light emission from a target to track it. ...

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The Firestreak was developed from 1951, its prototype Blue Jay was built by de Havilland to meet a less arduous specification than that which had led to the unsuccessful Fairey Fireflash. English Electric Lightning at Farnborough air show. ... English Electric Lightning at Farnborough air show. ... The English Electric Lightning (later the BAC Lightning) was a supersonic British fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, particularly remembered for its great speed, and its natural metal exterior that was used throughout much of its service life with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1951: Events February February 21 - an English Electric Canberra becomes the first jet to make an unrefuelled crossing of the Atlantic, taking 4 hours 37 minutes March March 6 - the Martin aircraft company gains production rights to the English Electric Canberra... For other uses, see De Havilland (disambiguation). ... The Fairey Fireflash was the first British air-to-air missile. ...

Firestreak had an unusual configuration, with the warhead around the exhaust tube. The actuators were in the nose, operated by a compressed air bottle in the tail, operating the tail-mounted control surfaces via pushrods. Its liquid nitrogen-cooled seeker was slaved to the aircraft's radar for lock-on, and was suitable only for tail-chase (rear-aspect) engagements. It had an infrared proximity fuzes set in two rows between the nose and the wings.. General Name, Symbol, Number Nitrogen, N, 7 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 15 (VA), 2 , p Density 1. ... A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze, for variable time) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane. ...

Firestreak entered service in 1958, arming English Electric Lightning, de Havilland Sea Vixen, and Gloster Javelin fighter aircraft. It was superseded by a descendent, the Hawker Siddeley Red Top (initially planned as "Firestreak Mk IV"), from 1964. It remained in limited service until the final retirement of the Lightning in 1988, because carrying of these missiles improved aircraft's aerodynamics. This is a list of aviation-related events from 1958: Events Gulfstream Aerospace founded in Savannah, Georgia, USA. London Gatwick Airport opens after two years of extensive reconstruction. ... The English Electric Lightning (later the BAC Lightning) was a supersonic British fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, particularly remembered for its great speed, and its natural metal exterior that was used throughout much of its service life with the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force. ... The correct title of this article is de Havilland Sea Vixen. ... The Gloster Javelin was an interceptor aircraft that served with Britains Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Hawker Siddeley Red Top missile mounted on a English Electric Lightning at the RAF Museum at Hendon, London. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1964: // Events February February 7 - The Canadian Golden Hawks aerobatic team is disbanded. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1988: January January 26 - the French defence ministry approves full-scale development of the Dassault Rafale January 30 - a Boeing 747 sets a new around-the-world record of 36 hours 54 minutes April April 23 - Kanellos Kanellopoulos recreates the mythical...

De Havilland was later acquired by Hawker Siddeley, thus the missile is sometimes known as the Hawker Siddeley Firestreak. Hawker-Ciggerley was a group of UK aircraft manufacturing companies formed as a result of the merger of Hawker Aircraft with Armstrong Siddeley. ...

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The Rainbow Codes were a series of code names used to disguise the nature of various British military research projects from after the Second World War until 1958 when they were replaced by an alphanumeric code system. ...

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