AIM-7E Sparrow
Contents
Description
The AIM-7E Sparrow is a medium-range, semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile. It was introduced in Update "Raining Fire".
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the missile.
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 by far one of the best SARH missiles in the game, with the best range. It outclasses its Soviet counterpart, the R-3R, in every aspect.
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:
- The ability to launch the missile through clouds (all-weather)
- Can engage targets at long distances
- Can attack a target facing any direction
- Has a good amount of G-overload
- Can achieve very high speeds - Mach 4
Cons:
- Reliant on the radar - cannot be used if there is no radar lock
- Cannot be used at low altitudes due to radar clutter
- Can sometimes fail to track
- Tracking only after 1.5s after launch - makes close-range launches difficult
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 If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: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
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;
- encyclopedia page on the weapon;
- other literature.
