FFAR Mighty Mouse
Contents
Description
The FFAR Mighty Mouse or Mk 4 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket is a 2.75 inches (70 mm) diameter unguided rocket utilised by military aircraft. This rocket was primarily developed for interceptor aircraft which would utilise them for shooting down enemy bombers which proved difficult to shoot down with guns and cannons at the speeds they were travelling. While initially developed for air-to-air combat, the FFAR was found to be very effective when utilised in air-to-surface operations.
Unlike traditional missiles with fixed fins, the FFAR's fins were in a folded position when loaded in a launch tube. Upon the missile being launched and departed the launch tube, the folding fins would flip out into place to help stabilise the spin-rate of the rocket. While a single rocket could by itself bring down a bomber, due to it being unguided, accuracy was not on the side of the attacking pilot. To compensate for the inaccuracy of the rockets, they were usually launched in volleys to increase chances of hitting the target.
By the late 1950s, rockets had largely been removed from air-to-air service and were being fitted to helicopters for an air-to-ground role. For helicopters, a volley of rockets was found to be just as effective as a cannon, however, the rockets were lighter and did not cause recoil that the cannons produced.
The FFAR was given the nickname Mighty Mouse after the famous cartoon character of the time which featured a mouse with superpowers and the ability to fly and was known to sing a famous line "Here I come to save the day!" when he flew into action.
Vehicles equipped with this weapon
| Vehicles equipped with this weapon | |
|---|---|
| Jet fighters | |
| F-100 | F-100D |
| G.91 | G.91 pre-serie · G.91 R/1 · G.91 R/4 · G.91 YS |
| FJ-4B | FJ-4B · FJ-4B VMF-232 |
| T-2 | T-2 |
| Attackers | AD-4 |
| Helicopters | |
| AH-1 | AH-1F · AH-1G · AH-1Z |
| BO 105 | BO 105 CB-2 · BO 105 PAH-1 · BO 105 PAH-1A1 |
| SA. | SA.341F Gazelle · SA.342M Gazelle |
| UH-1 | UH-1B · UH-1C · UH-1C XM-30 · ◄UH-1D |
General info
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Effective damage
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Comparison with analogues
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Usage in battles
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Pros and cons
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Pros:
Cons:
History
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Media
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See also
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External links
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