The
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...
R.530 is a French medium to short range
air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid-fuel roc ...
.
It was available in
infrared homing
Infrared homing is a Missile guidance#Passive homing, passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "he ...
and
semi active radar homing as the main armament of the
Mirage III which was able to carry a single missile in the centerline, the
Mirage F1, which carried up to three, utilizing wing hardpoints, and the
F-8 Crusader, also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.
Operational history
The Israeli
Heyl Ha'Avir (IDF/AF) purchased 15 semi-active radar-homing R.530 missiles from France, along with three training rounds and eight launch pylons, to go with the new Mirage IIICJ "Shahak". It was intended to complement the domestic
Rafael Shafrir infrared-homing air-to-air missile. The missile was christened "Yahalom" (Hebrew for "diamond") in Israeli service and was issued to the No. 110 and No. 117 squadrons for their
quick reaction alert (QRA) aircraft. Both squadrons achieved weapons qualification in 1964.
[Aloni, Shlomo. ''Duel 28: Mirage III vs. MiG-21''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010. .]
On 29 November 1966, an Israeli Air Force
Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian
MiG-19s which were trying to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance
Piper J-3 Cub
The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Pi ...
in Israeli airspace. The first MiG was destroyed with an R.530 fired from less than a mile away, marking the first aerial kill for the missile. The second MiG-19 was destroyed with cannon fire.
During the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, the R.530, as was common for early air-to-air missiles in the 1960s, proved to be chronically unreliable and difficult to use, especially in the close-range dogfights that characterized aerial combat in the war. The R.530 required a radar lock from the Cyrano radar of the Mirage III in order to be launched, but the Cyrano radar was severely hampered by ground clutter at low altitude, where most air combat took place during the Six-Day War, rendering the R.530 nearly useless. The weapon failed to achieve any kills during the Six-Day War.
Gallery
File:R.530-21.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-19.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-20.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-29.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-25.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-23.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-24.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-30.jpg, Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530 operators.png, Map with former R.530 operators in red
File:Dassault Mirage IIIC, France - Air Force AN0695826.jpg, Mirage IIIC of Escadron de Chasse 2/10 Seine in 1980 armed with a Matra R.530
File:Two French air force Dassault Mirage F1C aircraft.jpg, Mirage F1s of Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen and Escadron de Chasse 3/30 Lorraine in 1986 armed with Matra R.530s
Former operators
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See also
Related development:
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Super 530
Similar weapons
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AIM-4 Falcon
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AIM-26 Falcon
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AIM-7 Sparrow (initial variants)
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K-8 (missile)
The Kaliningrad K-8 (R-8) (NATO reporting name AA-3 'Anab') was a medium-range air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union for interceptor aircraft use.Gordon, Yefim. ''Soviet/Russian Aircraft Weapons''. Midland. 2004.
The K-8 was developed ...
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matra Super 530
R.530
R.530
Military equipment introduced in the 1960s