Difference between revisions of "Matra R550 Magic 1"
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== General info == | == General info == | ||
Revision as of 21:46, 21 September 2022
Contents
Description
The Matra R550 Magic 1 is a French IR homing air-to-air missile that was intended to replace the AIM-9s in French Army service. It was introduced in update "Starfighters".
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
| Missile characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Mass | 89 kg |
| Guidance | IR |
| Aspect | Rear-Aspect |
| Lock range in rear-aspect | 5.5 km |
| Launch range | 10 km |
| Maximum speed | 3 M |
| Maximum overload | 35 G |
| Missile guidance time | 25 secs |
| Explosive mass (TNT eq.) | 9.6 kg |
The Matra R550 Magic 1 is a very capable missile, with a 35 G maximum overload, which makes it a very deadly missile at top-tier when used correctly. The Matra Magic 1 is also a very light missile, with only two seconds of boost time. The missiles come equipped with large and numerous control surfaces, ensuring high manoeuvrability throughout the flight time. The price of these big control surfaces is a high drag, with the weapon decelerating quickly after the end of boost time, limiting the range of the missiles.
The weapon enable time is 0.5 seconds, meaning the missile will accelerate straight for half a second before starting manoeuvres.
Effective damage
Having a warhead containing 6 kg of HBX explosive (9.6 kg TNT equivalent), it all but guarantees the destruction of enemy vital parts such as engine, tail section, wings, etc. The explosive charge is generally enough to deal with any attacker with a single hit. Still, the proximity fuse is very sensible, and the missile can explode far enough from the target, only provoking a critical hit.
Comparison with analogues
- R-60 - A soviet short-range IR missile with excellent overload performance but poor booster capability
Usage in battles
The Magic is mounted on the Mirage series of aircraft, being extremely well integrated, and slavable to the aircraft's radar. Meaning that if the Mirage's Cyrano radar is locked on an enemy aircraft, enabling the missile seeker will immediately activate the missile seeker's gimbals, and the seeker will orientate itself in the direction of the locked target. Allowing a certain capability of "off-boresight" shooting of the missile. This fact is important in close-range engagements and dogfights.
Overall, the Matra 550 Magic missile is to be used as a close encounter platform. Firing the weapon on an enemy at a distance of more than 2 km yields poor results, especially if the target is fleeing at high speed. Under the 1.5 km mark, the hit is nearly assured. Note that the use of flares is an effective countermeasure against the Magic. Concerning off-boresight shoots, sending away the weapon over 1-1.2 km is not advised, because the trajectory correction needed for an off-boresight shoot is higher that a standard shoot.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great turning capability
- Can be slaved onto the radar
- Can launch in any G condition
Cons:
- Poor low speed turning capability, easy to dodge if launched close to the target
- Sensitive to flare decoys
History
Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.
Media
- Images
R.550 Magic seen on Mirage IIIC
The Matra 550 Magic 1 missile. Note the size and number of control surfaces, and the lack of thrust vectoring in the missile's rocket motor nozzle.
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the weapon;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
