AIM-9M Sidewinder

Description

The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a renowned family of short-range air-to-air missiles used by global air forces. Among its varations, the AIM-9M, introduced in the 1980s, stands out. This version was tailored to offer enhanced resistance to IR countermeasures, making it harder for enemy aircraft to evade or deceive. The AIM-9M also features a reduced-smoke rocket motor, minimizing the risk of the launching aircraft being spotted. Its deployment in various conflicts has cemented its reputation as a formidable air-to-air weapon.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• AH-1Z
• ▄AV-8B Plus
• F-16D Barak II
• F-16C
• Harrier GR.7

General info

The most Notable characteristics are:

1. IRCCM: The AIM-9M's guidance system was uses a form of IRCCM called Suspended Animation to provide increased resistance to infrared countermeasures. This form of IRCCM shuts off the seeker and relies of INS (Inertial Navigation System). This feature makes it harder for adversary aircraft to deploy flares or other means to deceive or divert the missile.
2. Reduced-smoke Rocket Motor: The AIM-9M comes with a motor that produces less visible smoke. This characteristic is vital tactically, as it reduces the chances of the missile giving away the position of the launching aircraft.
3. Reliability: Over the years and through various upgrades, the Sidewinder family has developed a reputation for reliability, and the AIM-9M embodies this trait.

Effective damage

It has a 4.06kg warhead, making at average but still reliable at crippling or downing enemy planes with its warhead.

Comparison with analogues

In terms of flight characteristics, the missile is identical to the AIM-9L Sidewinder

The IRCCM this missile uses (Suspended Animation) which currently can only be found on helicopter AAMs. The AIM-9M is unique in this fact in game as it's the only missile that can be carried on Jets that use this form of IRCCM.

The other comparable missiles of this generation are the Matra R550 Magic 2 and r-73. Both of these also have IRCCM, however they use a type of IRCCM called FOV Gating, where once it is fired, the inner FOV of the seeker is much lowered to reduce the chance of getting defeated.

Missile Characteristics	AIM-9M	R-73	Magic 2	AIM-9L
Mass	84 kg	105 kg	89 kg	84 kg
Guidance	IR	IR	IR	IR
Aspect	All-Aspect	All-Aspect	All-aspects	All-Aspect
Seeker Head	Uncaged (radar slavable)	Uncaged (radar slavable)	Uncaged (radar slavable)	Uncaged (radar slavable)
Lock range (rear-aspect)	11 km	11 km	6 km	11 km
Lock range (all-aspect)	3 km	3.4 km	3 km	3 km
ECCM	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ECCM Type	Suspended Animation	FOV Gating	FOV Gating	N/A
Thrust Vectoring	No	Yes	No	No
Launch range	18 km	30km	10 km	18 km
Maximum speed	2.5 M	2.5 M	3 M	2.5 M
Maximum overload	30 G	40 G	35 G	30 G
Missile guidance time	60 s	25 s	25 s	60 s
Explosive Mass	4.06 kg TNTeq	5.96 kg TNTeq	9.6kg TNTeq	4.06 kg TNTeq

Usage in battles

The AIM-9M should be used to target enemy fighters. It's potential of destroying a target becomes exponentially higher when firing at a clueless or unsuspecting enemy, such as AFK players or those who don't know you are coming.

When an enemy is flaring, or ready to flare the missile, shooting it from side aspect is generally most reliable, with rear aspect being fairly reliable and front aspect not being reliable at all.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Suspended Animation: Knowledge about how this type of IRCCM works is required to have a chance at evading this missile; meaning: Very easy to score kills
• Long range. Can reliably be fired from 2.5km when chasing a supersonic target at low altitude. up to 4.5km when at altitude, and even 6-7km if conditions allow for it.
• Very maneuverable, it is extremely hard to dodge this missile kinetically.

Cons:

• It becomes "dumb" if the target keeps flaring, trying to hit the enemy based on right before seeker shut off due to flares.
• Not very useful in a dogfight as it doesn't pull hard enough against a close range maneuraling target

History

1. Origins: The AIM-9 Family was conceived in the early 1950s at the U.S. Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, California, the Sidewinder was designed as an affordable and reliable infrared-homing missile.
2. Evolution: Over the years, several variants emerged. The AIM-9M, debuting in the 1980s, improved upon the AIM-9L, especially in counter-countermeasures capabilities.

Combat Usage:

1. Taiwan Strait Crisis (1958): First combat use of the AIM-9 Family, with Chinese Nationalist F-86s scoring kills against Chinese Communist MiG fighters.
2. Vietnam War: Became the primary short-range air-to-air missile for U.S. aircraft, facing initial issues but seeing later improvement.
3. Middle East: Used by multiple nations, notably by Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Egyptian and Syrian aircraft.
4. Falklands War (1982): British Harriers deployed Sidewinders especially the AIM-9L variant effectively against Argentine aircraft.
5. Operation Desert Storm (1991): The AIM-9M was showcased its enhanced capabilities, contributing to air superiority against Iraqi aircraft.

Throughout its lifespan, the Sidewinder, especially the AIM-9M, has evolved to meet the demands of modern aerial warfare, seeing widespread use in numerous global conflicts.

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

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