Legendary Sidewinder missile shot down for the first time in the Taiwan Strait (updated)

The Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) in Taiwan acquired its first Sidewinder in 1958 at the height of the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, making it the first foreign country to acquire one.

For the fascinating origin story of the Sidewinder in the early 1950s, war zone have been investigated in the past. You can read about it here. There is no doubt that from its humble beginnings, this missile, named after the heat-seeking rattlesnake of the Mojave Desert, quickly exceeded the expectations of its developers at the Naval Weapons Test Station in China Lake, California.

What’s unique about the Sidewinder program is its emphasis on simplicity over sophistication, and the fact that it was developed by a small team of naval engineers rather than a major aerospace company. The key was to incorporate the seeker head into the missile itself, rather than attempting to integrate it with the complex and bulky fire control system of the aircraft firing the missile. The result was the first truly practical “fire and forget” air-to-air missile.

By 1953, the head of the infrared seeker was able to attack trucks, trains, and even targets before proving its worth by blowing up unmanned B-17 Flying Fortress bombers and other aircraft converted into target drones. showed that all kinds of heat sources can be tracked, even glowing cigarettes.

The Sidewinder was produced at low rates in 1955 and originally had the Navy designation AAM-N-7. It was not until the introduction of the revised tri-service system in 1963 that the Sidewinder became known as his AIM-9, a designation it retains to this day.

In the summer of 1958, rising tensions over the Taiwan Strait provided the Sidewinder with its first opportunity to be tested in combat.

By this stage, the front of the Taiwan confrontation had been established, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) building up its forces on the mainland, while the Kuomintang, which had been driven from the mainland, held out on Taiwan. At this time, the Taiwanese government was still widely recognized as China’s legitimate government and enjoyed such status within the United Nations, but its status has since declined significantly. At the time, and now, Taiwan received military aid from the United States, including the supply of fighter jets. F-86F Saber jet fighter

As well as Taiwan itself, the Kuomintang occupied a pair of strategically located offshore islands, Kemoi and Matsu. These islands were close enough to the mainland to serve as bases for bombarding the People’s Republic of China. China then attacked these islands, prompting the deployment of U.S. Navy aircraft carriers to the region in 1954.

In 1958, China was still building up its forces adjacent to Taiwan, while the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet patrolled the region’s waters. In July, a ROCAF F-86 was shot down by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) MIG fighter jet. A month later, ROCAF reconnaissance flights revealed increased deployment of PLA MiGs at airfields capable of reaching Taiwan. This aircraft consisted of the first generation. MiG-15bisan improved MiG-17F, and eventually a Chinese version of the MiG-17, the J-5.

The situation escalated throughout August, as the PLA began shelling Kemoi, while ROCAF F-86s and PLA MiGs clashed over the Strait. The first MiG he fell under Nationalist saber fire on August 14. By the end of the same month, China was threatening to invade Taiwan.

There were four US Navy aircraft carriers in the region by the end of August, as well as Kuomintang forces, including three wings of the F-86, and the US Air Force had a fleet of F-100 Super Sabers, a generation more advanced than the F-86. Deployed. was temporarily stationed at Chingchuangang Air Base, Taiwan. Later this year, U.S. Air Force F-104 Starfighters, also equipped with Sidewinders, will be deployed to Taiwan.

Clashes with PLA MiGs intensified as ROCAF stepped up patrols in the Strait. However, the Soviet-made MiG-17 jet was superior to the F-86 because it had a higher service ceiling, higher top speed, and an afterburner to provide additional thrust on demand. As a result, Kuomintang fighters were frequently unable to get within range of communist fighters.

In response, the United States expedited the delivery of Sidewinder missiles to the Kuomintang in August. This weapon has just been issued to the US Navy, and providing it to Taiwan so quickly is a surprising move, and appears to be driven by a sense of alarm, especially with the arrival of the MiG-17. Modifying the Saber to carry missiles was not very complicated and was apparently carried out under an operation codenamed “Black Magic.”

Some reports suggest that ROCAF pilots were practicing missile engagements by flying. simulated air battle Against the US Air Force F-17 replicating the MiG-100 during different air combat exercises.

The specific weapon supplied appears to have been the AAM-N-7 Sidewinder IA missile. This was the first version to be mass-produced following his AAM-N-7 Sidewinder I, which was produced in limited quantities. Approximately 200 those that were produced. After 1963, these two variants of him became AIM-9A and AIM-9B, respectively. The Sidewinder IA had a maximum range of approximately 3 miles, was equipped with a 10-pound explosive fragmentation warhead, and had an effective firing radius of approximately 30 feet.

The first successful Sidewinder engagement apparently occurred over Quemoy on September 24, 1958, with three more missile kills reportedly achieved by the end of the day. A total of 10 MiGs were reported to have been destroyed by ROCAF Sabers, with the remainder being shot down by gunfire.

According to reports published in Western countries, during the 1958 crisis, 31 MiGs were shot down by ROCAF F-86s in six weeks, at the cost of two F-86s. This was part of a frantic pace of operations in which the Nationalists flew between 100 and 200 sorties every day, and a similar number on the PLA side.

According to Western reports, Kuomintang pilots achieved a 60 percent flight performance. murder rate Using a sidewinder in the Taiwan Strait. There was certainly an element of surprise in their favor, especially given that more advanced models of the missile struggled to reach a 10 percent kill rate when used by the U.S. Air Force over Vietnam. The rate seems high.

Overall, the appearance of Sidewinder was a surprise to China and the general observer. But a stroke of luck for the communists, at least one missile hit a MiG-17 but did not explode. The jet returned to base and the missile debris was removed and subsequently examined. As a result, reverse engineering was performed. Vympel K-13 (AA-2 Atoll) Built under license in the Soviet Union PL-2 equivalent product In China. Both of these weapons, like the earlier generation Sidewinder, had significant shortcomings in terms of functionality, but likewise served as a starting point for more practical designs.

As for Sidewinder’s role in ending the 1958 Taiwan Crisis, it may have been a contributing factor, but it was by no means the only one. The United States demonstrated its commitment to Taiwan by resupplying Kuomintang garrisons on both Kemoi and Matsu islands, helping to end Chinese military shelling, but sporadic shelling would continue for years to come. will continue.

The Sidewinder’s combat debut showed that heat-seeking air-to-air missiles were a viable proposition, and even allowed inferior fighters to turn the tide against superior capable adversaries.

However, this missile was far from perfect, especially in its early stages. Its short range and limited seeker head reliability required clear skies with no distractions to maintain a lock on the target exhaust. Only tail-track engagements against non-mobile aircraft were possible, and if alerted in time to the threat, the target could maneuver its way out of danger.

Although the 1958 Taiwan Crisis was only the first chapter in the history of Sidewinder warfare, the Sidewinder continued to develop over the coming decades as it continued to win conflicts from Vietnam to the Falkland Islands to Desert Storm. will continue to be Currently, the AIM-9X Sidewinder is almost unrecognizable in its advanced capabilities compared to its early ancestors. But 63 years ago this month, the sudden appearance of this revolutionary weapon in the Taiwan Strait laid the foundation for an unparalleled career, and the latest version of the Sidewinder family remains the mainstay of most Western fighter jets to this day. It continues to be a short-range missile weapon. .

Update for September 29th: twitter user @alert5 provided additional details about the September 24, 1958 battle based on Chinese reports. This revealed that the first Sidewinder was shot down in Wenzhou Bay, China, rather than over Kueh Moi, some 190 miles away. Four F-86Fs were flying top cover of an RF-84F reconnaissance aircraft. Gun camera images of the battle show the missile moving away from the F-86 before engaging the MiG-17, its contrail visible. The same report said MiGs shot down nine people that day instead of 10, but the new missiles hit only four, six of which were fired.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com