The AIM-7 Sparrow is an American medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and various other air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile from the late 1950s until the 1990s. It remains in service, although it is being phased out in aviation applications in favor of the more advanced AIM-120 AMRAAM.
AIM-7 Sparrow at Hill Air Force Base Museum.
Sparrow I's during tests on a Douglas F3D Skyknight in the early 1950s
Sparrow 2 Missile
F3H Demon launching a Sparrow III in 1958
Semi-active radar homing (SARH) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive detector of a radar signal—provided by an external ("offboard") source—as it reflects off the target. Semi-active missile systems use bistatic continuous-wave radar.
Figure 1. Semi-active radar homing flight path geometry.
9B-1101K, inertial semi-active homing head for R-27R missiles.
