The Dornier Viper was a West German/Norwegian

air-to-air missile The newest and the oldest member of Rafael's Python family of AAM for comparisons, Python-5 (displayed lower-front) and Shafrir-1 (upper-back) An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying a ...

project, intended to replace the

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prove ...

, in ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' service from 1975/76. The Viper was developed by Bodenseewerk and Dornier Systems, using an

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...

seeker and a new solid-fuel

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

motor (by ''Kongsberg Vapenfabrik''), intended to have twice the burn time of the Sidewinder. In 1974, the Viper was abandoned in favor of evaluating an American missile. *Length: *Diameter: *Weight:

References

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Bibliography

* . * {{citation , title = Viper, Dornier , editor-last = Fitzsimons , editor-first = Bernard , encyclopedia = The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare , place = London , publisher = Phoebus , year = 1978 , volume = 24 , page = 2578. Air-to-air missiles of Germany Abandoned military projects of Germany Air-to-air missiles of the Cold War