What Will Happen To The AIM-54 Phoenix Missile?

AEramper1974 · Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:55 am

Hi all! I was talking to friend earlier today about the retirement of the F-14 and a question came up to which we could not figure out a viable answer to... What will the US Navy do with all of the AIM-54 Phoneix missles they had for the Tomcats? I don't think that any other aircraft in the inventory is equipped to handle them... but I am sure certain modifications could be made to fix that problem. Anybody with an answer for this?

[Edited 2008-07-22 20:07:43]

BladeLWS · Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:59 am

I'm pretty sure they will all be destroyed since they are solid propellant fueled and those do have a shelf life. I think they did not even carry them in active service the last few years because of cracks in the propellant?

garnetpalmetto · Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:00 am

Quoting BladeLWS (Reply 1):

I'm pretty sure they will all be destroyed since they are solid propellant fueled and those do have a shelf life. I think they did not even carry them in active service the last few years because of cracks in the propellant?

Correct. The Phoenixes were retired in September of '04, about 2 years before the Tomcat was put out to pasture.

Beyond that, the F-14 was the only aircraft in the inventory equipped to carry the AIM-54 and I can't foresee any other aircraft retrofitted in order to take up the fleet defense role.Too heavy of a missile and, as previously mentioned, it's solid fueled. If for some reason there's a belief that the air fleet defense mantle needs to be taken up and that the AMRAAM isn't enough to cut it, I think a clean sheet design would be favored over the Phoenix

[Edited 2008-07-22 21:03:11]

keesje · Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:35 am

I know a buyer that will offer a good price, regular sales have been hampered.

http://www.theodoresworld.net/archiv...entagon_stops_f14_parts_sales.html

LMP737 · Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:35 pm

The AIM-54 has found life after the Tomcat, sort of.

< http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/r...search/Phoenix/phoenixmissile.html >

flyingclrs727 · Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:13 pm

Quoting LMP737 (Reply 4):
The AIM-54 has found life after the Tomcat, sort of.

So how did they get an AIM-54 mounted on an F-15?

Image Above: An inert AIM-54 Phoenix missile nestled under the fuselage of NASA Dryden's F-15B aircraft is being studied as a possible test vehicle to obtain hypersonic data.

[Edited 2008-07-23 12:16:46]

ebj1248650 · Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:44 pm

Quoting FlyingClrs727 (Reply 5):
Image Above: An inert AIM-54 Phoenix missile nestled under the fuselage of NASA Dryden's F-15B aircraft is being studied as a possible test vehicle to obtain hypersonic data.

That's a novel use of phased out air-to-air missiles. It'll be interesting to see if this pans out.

Lumberton · Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:06 pm

The USN used the old Mach 3 Talos missiles as targets ("Vandals"). Perhaps the AIM-54 could find another life in this role?

MissedApproach · Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:35 pm

Quoting BladeLWS (Reply 1):
I'm pretty sure they will all be destroyed since they are solid propellant fueled and those do have a shelf life.

Quoting Garnetpalmetto (Reply 2):
The Phoenixes were retired in September of '04

Sure, but the government has all kinds of warehouse space, Davis-Monthan, etc.
For example, what about the AIM-9C, the only radar guided Sidewinder missile? It was only carried on the F-8 Crusader. However, during the '80's these missiles resurfaced- they were modified as an anti-radar missile (AGM-122 Sidearm) for the USMC Harriers. When the missiles were modified, the original motor & warhead were retained, though with a new fuse & modified guidance system.

I don't really think we'll see the -54s again though, considering the size & the fact that they're based on an even older missile than the Sidewinder (the AIM-47, which in turn was developed from the AIM-4 Falcon). Even its range will soon be rivalled by new versions of the AIM-120, or the Meteor.

http://www.sci.fi/~fta/aim9.html

sprout5199 · Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:42 am

Quoting FlyingClrs727 (Reply 5):
So how did they get an AIM-54 mounted on an F-15?

Why didn't they just use a Tomcat?

Quoting Lumberton (Reply 7):
The USN used the old Mach 3 Talos missiles as targets ("Vandals"). Perhaps the AIM-54 could find another life in this role?

My ship shot down two of those in Vandalex 89 in the Vacapes op area. We were the only one to fire, A lowly FFG put to shame 2 Tico class CG's, a Leahy class CG, and a Kidd class DDG, and a few other FFG's.

Dan in Jupiter

LMP737 · Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:41 am

Quoting FlyingClrs727 (Reply 5):
So how did they get an AIM-54 mounted on an F-15?

Looks like they used the outboard pylon off an F-14 and hooked it up to the F-15.

LY744 · Thu Jul 24, 2008 1:18 pm

Quoting Sprout5199 (Reply 9):
Why didn't they just use a Tomcat?

Because they already have an F-15.

LY744.

Analog · Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:21 pm

Quoting Keesje (Reply 3):
I know a buyer that will offer a good price, regular sales have been hampered.

That video goes to another one with an F-14 carrying two HAWK SAMs. I wonder how well those things work.

LMP737 · Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:50 pm

Quoting Analog (Reply 12):
That video goes to another one with an F-14 carrying two HAWK SAMs. I wonder how well those things work.

From what I've read, not very well. The Iranians abandoned the project.