Shafrir 2
| This page is about the Israeli air-to-air missile Shafrir 2. For the other version, see Shafrir. |
Contents
Description
The Shafrir 2 is an Israeli infrared homing air-to-air missile, it was introduced in Update "Winged Lions".
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
General info
| Missile characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Mass | 90 kg |
| Guidance | IR |
| Aspect | Rear-aspect |
| Lock range (rear-aspect) | 4 km |
| Launch range | 20 km |
| Maximum speed | 2.1 M |
| Maximum overload | 18 G |
| Missile guidance time | 30 secs |
| Explosive mass | 7.62 kg TNTeq |
Effective damage
The warhead has 7.62 kg of TNT equivalent, doing short work and destroying the targets most of the time in one hit. Sometimes aircrafts with reinforced airframe like the Su-25 can resist a hit, but the damage would force them out of the fight.
Comparison with analogues
One of the closest analogues to the Shafrir 2 is the AIM-9D Sidewinder, but the Shafrir 2 has an uncaged seeker so it is possible to lead the missile and proportionally having a higher tracking rate. However, when it comes to burn time, range, acceleration and G-tolerance, the two missiles are practically identical to each other.
It could be considered inferior to the AIM-9D however, it's slower to accelerate and takes some time to start tracking, but the worst thing its the seeker, with a performance more comparable to the first Shafrir, it will go for flares without any problem, and it's also easily attracted by the sun or other heat sources, and sometimes it will start tracking other enemies if they get in between you and your target.
Usage in battles
As the Shafrir 2 has a considerably high burning time and range, firing on enemies at 2.5 km or even 4 km with a considerable speed difference is quite usual to do with a proper leading, and having a pretty decent G overload of 18 G makes the missile difficult to dodge, destroying enemies with their guard down or distracted from a surprisingly far distance.
But the main problem of Shafrir 2, especially if it's used in high tier battles, is not having a good flare resistance and much worse than its contemporaries, and almost impossible to use in short ranges against maneuvering targets.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Good range and high burning time, being almost identical to AIM-9D
- Has an uncaged seeker that is able to lead targets
- Pretty good G overload of 18G, being extremely difficult to dodge against enemies without flares, mainly against supersonic aircrafts or heavy aircraft like bombers
- Standard missile for many IAF planes, meaning the general missile performance is the same from planes of lower BR to higher BRs, allowing players to better familiarize around the missile's strength and weaknesses
Cons:
- Missile loses most of its strength in higher BR battles like above 11.0, being extremely limited and primitive compared to others like the R-60M and AIM-9L in every aspect, especially by not being an all-aspect missile.
- Terrible performance in short ranges with minimal flare resistance, being easily distracted by flares even against afterburning or hot targets
- Takes time to start tracking and has a mediocre acceleration after being launched
History
The Shafrir program was intended to develop an air-to-air missile domestically, to reduce Israeli reliance on exports and promote domestic defence companies. However, after the introduction of the first Shafrir missile, the IAF realized that its performance was very bad and no kills were ever achieved with it. In fact, pilots would rather use the guns in their Mirage fighters than using the missile itself. In fact, the whole Shafrir program was intended
The Shafrir 2 was developed almost instantly after the first Shafrir went into service. It had an improved engine, G-tolerance, seeker and a much longer range. The Shafrir 2 proved to be an excellent missile, and would be credited with 89 kills during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 out of 176 missiles launched. After the introduction of the more capable Python 3 (now called Python to use more Western names), the Shafrir 2 was exported in large quantities to South America, the countries that used it the most were Honduras, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia and Argentina.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
- Related development
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
