Have Dash was a program conducted by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
for the development of a
stealthy
air-to-air missile. Although the Have Dash II missile appears to have been flight tested, the results of the project remain classified and no production is believed to have been undertaken.
Have Dash I
Have Dash I was a classified project to develop an air-to-air missile for use by
stealth aircraft.
[Popular Mechanics, March 1990] The concept, developed by the USAF Armament Laboratory between 1985 and 1988,
was extensively studied but failed to produce any flying hardware.
[Parsch 2005]
Have Dash II
Have Dash II, initiated in 1990, was a renewed effort to develop a stealthy air-to-air missile, intended to be used by the
Advanced Tactical Fighter
The Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) was a demonstration and validation program undertaken by the United States Air Force to develop a next-generation air superiority fighter to counter emerging worldwide threats, including Soviet Sukhoi Su-27 ...
– the
YF-22
The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 is an American single-seat, twin-engine fighter aircraft technology demonstrator designed for the United States Air Force (USAF). The design was a finalist in the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter c ...
and
YF-23 – and to replace the
AIM-120 AMRAAM in service.
Have Dash II was designed with a
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials
...
body,
trapezoid
A quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides is called a trapezoid () in American and Canadian English. In British and other forms of English, it is called a trapezium ().
A trapezoid is necessarily a convex quadrilateral in Eu ...
al in shape. This was intended both to reduce the missile's radar-cross-section
and to resist heat at hypersonic speeds, as the missile was intended to operate at
Mach 5.
The body shape also allowed flush external carriage aboard the launching aircraft, and provided aerodynamic lift, making the missile more maneuverable.
The prototype Have Dash II missiles were recoverable,
and utilised
Rocketdyne
Rocketdyne was an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, in southern California.
The Rocketdyne Division was founded by North American Avia ...
Mk 58 solid-fueled rocket motors of the same type used by the
AIM-7 Sparrow.
" ''Defense Daily'', April 21, 1992. Production missiles were expected to be powered by a ramjet
A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...
engine,["Have Dash II: Development Test and Evaluation of an Advanced Air-To-Air Missile Concept". Society of Experimental Test Pilots Symposium Proceedings, Volumes 36–37, p. 159. (1992)] However, no results of the test firings have been declassified, and the missile's development was not further pursued.
References
Notes
Bibliography
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{{US missiles
Air-to-air missiles of the United States
Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States