AIM-7E Sparrow

This page is about the American air-to-air missile AIM-7E Sparrow. For the other versions, see AIM-7 Sparrow (Family).

Phantom FGR.2 carrying AIM-7E Sparrows

Description

The AIM-7E Sparrow missile (scale is approximate)

The AIM-7E Sparrow is an American semi-active radar-homing air-to-air missile. It was introduced in Update "Raining Fire"

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• F-104S
• ▄F-104S TAF
• F-4E Phantom II
• Kurnass
• F-4EJ Phantom II
• F-4EJ ADTW
• F-4EJ Kai Phantom II
• F-4J(UK) Phantom II
• Phantom FG.1
• Phantom FGR.2

General info

The AIM-7E has a new propulsion system based on a solid-fueled rocket which increased its range and performance compared to previous variants. The missile needs 1.8s after the launch to start tracking its target, then it needs 2.7s to become fully manoeuvrable. It can pull up to 25G.

Missile characteristics
Mass	205 kg
Guidance	SARH
Signal	CW
Lock range	25 km
Launch range	50 km
Maximum speed	4 M
Maximum overload	25 G
Missile guidance time	40 secs
Explosive mass	11.52 kg TNTeq

Effective damage

The AIM-7E has a 30 kg (65 lb) MK 38 MOD 0 continuous rod warhead with 9 kg of PBXN-4 high explosive. It is capable of destroying fighter-sized targets with a single hit in most cases.

Comparison with analogues

The AIM-7E Sparrow is one of the better SARH missiles in the game with decent range. It's comparable to the Soviet R-23R missile, both need almost 5s to get full manoeuvrability after launching them, but the Sparrow has longer range and can pull 5G more. The Soviet missile is also heavier, but with more of explosive.

Usage in battles

The ideal time to use this weapon will depend on the target's speed altitude and if the target has a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) or not. Targets without RWR can often be attacked with the missile from considerable range since they will usually not be aware of the impending attack. In general, lower, faster and more aware targets require you to be closer to the target. If you get too close (anywhere less than 4 km usually), the missile begins to lose effectiveness as at these closer ranges it does not have time to accelerate to its top speed. The stated range on the stat card is an ideal range against a high altitude target that is unaware and heading towards you, more realistic engagement ranges tend to be closer to 8-12 km. Hits beyond 20 km are practical but only under ideal circumstances. A squadron of Phantoms with 4 AIM-7E Sparrows each can dominate the high altitude realm very well.

When engaging other Sparrow-equipped aircraft, a good knowledge of manoeuvres such as the F-Pole will serve you well.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Long lock-on range (up to 25km)
• Being radar-guided, it can attack a target from any direction
• With a 25G max overload, it has good turning capability
• Can achieve very high speeds (up to Mach 4)

Cons:

• Travels in a straight line once launched and only begins tracking after 1.8s after launch and gets fully manoeuvrable 3 seconds after that; this makes close-range launches difficult
• Has a chance to not hit.
• Sometimes fails to lock on successfully
• Not good within ∼2 km

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

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Related development

• AIM-7 Sparrow (Family)

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.