| AAM-A-1 Firebird | |
| Origin: | United States |
| Type: | Air-to-air missile |
| Is Explosive: | yes |
| Is Missile: | yes |
| Service: | Never entered service. |
| Design Date: | 1946-1947 |
| Manufacturer: | Ryan Aeronautical Company |
| Length: | 7feet |
| Part Length: | Booster, 1feet |
| Filling: | High explosive |
| Engine: | Liquid-fuel rocket, 620lb-f |
| Engine Power: | Booster, solid-fuel rocket, 2800lb-f |
| Speed: | Mach 0.85 |
| Guidance: | Midcourse: Radio command Terminal: Active radar homing |
| Wingspan: | 2inchesft8inchesin (ftin) |
| Launch Platform: | DB-26 Invader DF-82 Twin Mustang |
The AAM-A-1 Firebird was an early American air-to-air missile, developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. The first air-to-air missile program developed for the United States Air Force, the Firebird was extensively tested in the late 1940s; although it proved successful in testing, it was soon obsolete due to the rapid advances in aircraft and missile technology at the time and did not enter production.
The AAM-A-1 project began in 1946 with the awarding of a study contract, under the designation MX-799, to the Ryan Aeronautical Company for the development of a subsonic air-to-air missile, which would be used by interceptor aircraft for the destruction of enemy bombers.[1] A contract for the development of the missile, designated AAM-A-1 Firebird, was awarded in 1947.[1]
The AAM-A-1 Firebird was a two-stage weapon, fitted with cruciform wings and tailfins. Control was by differential motion of the wings; the tailfins were fixed.[1] The missile's fuselage was constructed from aluminum alloy, while the nosecone and control fins were molded from plastic.[2] Firebird was fitted with a solid-fuel booster rocket providing initial thrust, before a liquid-fuel sustainer rocket ignited for a 15-second powered flight time.[1]
Guidance was provided during midcourse flight by radio command, with an operator in the launching aircraft transmitting corrections to the missile. Terminal guidance used active radar homing, with a small radar set fitted in the nose of the missile,[3] with the missile's warhead being detonated by a proximity fuze, a backup impact fuze also being fitted.[1]
Flight testing of the XAAM-A-1 prototype missiles began in October 1947,[1] launched from DB-26 Invader bomber and DF-82 Twin Mustang aircraft,[1] the latter of which could carry up to four missiles.[4] The first air-to-air missile to reach the flight-test stage outside of World War II Nazi Germany,[5] the Firebird proved to be reasonably successful in testing, with production being projected for the early 1950s;[6] however its command-guidance system limited it to clear-weather, daytime use only.[1]
Although radar beam riding guidance was planned to solve this,[5] the subsonic speed of the weapon was also considered to be insufficient to avoid obsolescence; accordingly, the AAM-A-1's production program was terminated late in 1949,[1] the Hughes Falcon being selected for development as the Air Force's standard intercept missile instead.[7] The test program was considered to be successful, despite the rejection by the USAF, as a considerable amount of knowledge was gained that benefited later programs.[8]
A Firebird missile is preserved at the Air Force Space & Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.