: how does a air-air missile track an aircraft that is constantly changing it’s direction while also traveling supersonic?
In: 321
All the other explanations here are missing one crucial point: the missile arrives from a distance and it has a broad field of view—be it radar or infra-red, doesn’t matter, but what does matter is that it can “see” the target against a wide background and can make a *minor* correction for each *major* maneuver that the target makes.
Think of it like this.
You’re running on foot through an open field from a bandit that’s chasing you on horseback. If you run in a straight line, you’re doomed, right? So your only chance is to try to go to either side and hope that you’re able to jump away from the bandit.
But if you start turning to the left, the bandit will see you doing so and will guide his horse to the left immediately. He won’t have the horse run along your path, but will try to cut you off—to intercept you as you’re turning left. You’re at an inherent disadvantage because whatever you do, the bandit will adjust against what you’re doing. And in order to chase after you, he will need to make a very slight turn to the left for each significant turn to the left you make yourself.
Yet another way to think of it is to imagine a right-angled triangle.
C
|
____|
A B
As you see, in order to get from point A to C going through B, you need to make a sharp turn of 90 degrees and cover the distance AB+BC. But now imagine adding the hypoteneuse. The bandit (or missile) needs to make a much slighter turn to get from A to C directly and the distance of AC is shorter than AB+BC.
And on top of that, since a missile doesn’t have a human body in it, it can maneuver with G-forces that exceed what a human being can handle, which—to continue the bandit analogy—makes it very hard to jump away from the missile at the last moment, since the “bandit’s horse” can turn on a dime.
But just to be clear: missiles in real life don’t chase after planes as if they’re Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. A missile’s job is to intercept the target. If it misses, it’s done. So if you do jump away from the bandit and his horse (for example, because you throw sand in the horse’s eyes—the metaphorical equivalent of chaff and flares), you’re safe. Until another bandit comes after you.
Edit: Let me add—[this is an example](https://youtu.be/ITwA9M2Qtcc?t=196) of how a missile (a SAM in this case, but same principle) *does not work*. It’s not able to chase a target through so many maneuvers in such a long time, if for no other reason than simply because it won’t have enough fuel.
Latest Answers