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EntityQ2123794· pop 14· linked from 32 articles

Also known as Matra R.530

The Matra R.530 is a French medium to short range air-to-air missile. It was available in infrared homing and semi active radar homing as the main armament of the Mirage III which was able to carry a single missile in the centerline, the Mirage F1, which carried up to three, utilizing wing hardpoints, and the F-8 Crusader, also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.

Key facts

Weapon.is_missile
yes
Weapon.name
Matra R.530
Weapon.image
Matra R530 missile-001.jpg
Weapon.image_size
300
Weapon.caption
An R530 exhibited at the South African Air Force Museum, Swartkop
Weapon.origin
France
Weapon.type
Short-range air-to-air missile
Weapon.manufacturer
Matra
Weapon.service
1962
Weapon.engine
Two-stage solid rocket, Hotchkiss-Brandt/SNPE Antoinette rocket
Weapon.engine_power
83.3 kN for 2.7 s + 6.5 s cruise
Weapon.weight
192 kg
Weapon.filling_weight
27.2 kg
Weapon.length
3.28 m
Weapon.diameter
263 mm
Weapon.wingspan
1.1 m
Weapon.speed
Mach 2.7
Weapon.vehicle_range
1.5 to 20 km

via Wikipedia infobox

~3 min read

Encyclopedic overview

5 sections
Contents
  • Operational history
  • Gallery
  • Former operators
  • See also
  • References

The Matra R.530 is a French medium to short range air-to-air missile. It was available in infrared homing and semi active radar homing as the main armament of the Mirage III which was able to carry a single missile in the centerline, the Mirage F1, which carried up to three, utilizing wing hardpoints, and the F-8 Crusader, also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.

==Operational history== The Israeli Heyl Ha'Avir (IDF/AF) purchased 15 semi-active radar-homing R.530 missiles from France, along with three training rounds and eight launch pylons, to go with the new Mirage IIICJ "Shahak". It was intended to complement the domestic Rafael Shafrir infrared-homing air-to-air missile. The missile was christened "Yahalom" (Hebrew for "diamond") in Israeli service and was issued to the No. 110 and No. 117 squadrons for their quick reaction alert (QRA) aircraft. Both squadrons achieved weapons qualification in 1964.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “R.530” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.