View source for AIM-47 Falcon

{{Short description|American high-performance air-to-air missile}}
{{Infobox weapon
|is_missile=yes
|name=AIM-47 Falcon
| image= AIM-47.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=An AIM-47A waiting to be loaded aboard a YF-12.
|origin= United States
|type= [[Air-to-air missile]]
|used_by=[[United States Air Force]] (testing)
|designer=[[Hughes Aircraft]]
|design_date=1957-1966
|manufacturer=
|unit_cost=
|propellant=Solid fuel rocket
|production_date=
|service=
|spec_label=XAIM-47A
|engine=Lockheed XSR13-LP-1
|engine_power=
|weight={{convert|818|lb|kg|0|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|length={{convert|12|ft|6.5|in|m|2|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|height=
|diameter={{convert|13.5|in|mm|0|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|wingspan={{convert|33|in|mm|0|abbr=on|order=flip}}
|speed=[[Mach number|Mach 4]]
|vehicle_range={{convert|100|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}}
|ceiling=
|altitude=
|filling={{convert|100|lb|kg|0|abbr=on|lk=on}}
|guidance=[[Semi-active radar homing]], terminal [[infrared homing]]
|detonation=[[Proximity fuse]]
|launch_platform=[[Lockheed YF-12]], [[North American XF-108 Rapier]]
}}

The [[Hughes Aircraft|Hughes]] '''AIM-47 Falcon''', originally '''GAR-9''', was a [[Beyond-visual-range missile|very long-range]] high-performance [[air-to-air missile]] that shared the basic design of the earlier [[AIM-4 Falcon]]. It was developed in 1958 along with the new [[Hughes AN/ASG-18]] [[radar]] fire-control system intended to arm the Mach 3 [[XF-108 Rapier]] [[interceptor aircraft]] and, after that jet's cancellation, the [[Lockheed YF-12|YF-12A]] (whose production was itself cancelled after only 3 vehicles). It was never used operationally, but was a direct predecessor of the [[AIM-54 Phoenix]] used on the [[Grumman F-14 Tomcat]].

==Development==

===Development for XF-108===
In the early 1950s, the [[United States Air Force]] developed requirements for a high speed, high performance interceptor aircraft, originally called the LRI-X. In 1957, Hughes won the contract to supply the weapons system for this aircraft. This system consisted of the '''GAR-X''' missile and the YX-1 radar and fire control system. The original missile design had a range of {{convert|15|to|25|mi|km}}, and could be equipped with a conventional warhead or a 0.25 kiloton version of the [[W42 (nuclear warhead)|W42 nuclear warhead]]. When the North American [[XF-108 Rapier]] was announced as the winner of the LRI-X contest in April 1958, the Hughes entries were redesignated GAR-9 and AN/ASG-18 on the same day. The F-108 was canceled in September 1959, but the Air Force decided to continue development of the missile system with both warheads.<ref name=oconnor>Sean O'Connor, [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-47.html Hughes GAR-9/AIM-47 Falcon], Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, 2004</ref>

During its development, the capabilities of the new missile grew tremendously. Growing much larger, the missile's range was extended to {{convert|100|mi|km}}, using the Aerojet-General XM59 solid-fuel motor. The SARH seeker was a powerful system of its own, with the resolution to be able to lock onto a {{convert|100|sqft|m2|adj=on}} target at {{convert|63|nmi|km|abbr=on}}. Some consideration was given to the addition of a passive [[infrared homing]] seeker to improve terminal performance but that would have required the missile to grow by {{convert|180|lb|abbr=on}} and two inches in diameter, making it too large for the F-108's weapon bay. The W42 nuclear version was dropped in 1958 in favor of a {{convert|100|lb|adj=on}} high-explosive design.<ref name=oconnor/>

Problems with the motor during development led to the brief consideration of using a storable [[liquid-fuel rocket]] design, but was replaced instead by the Lockheed XSR13-LP-1 [[solid rocket]]. This lowered the top speed from Mach 6 to Mach 4. In this form, the GAR-9 started ground firings in August 1961. For air-launch testing at supersonic speeds the [[Republic XF-103]] had originally been proposed as a test platform, but this aircraft was canceled before reaching the prototype stage. Instead, [[B-58 Hustler]] s/n 55-665 was modified to house the [[AN/ASG-18]] radar in a large protruding [[radome]] that gave it the nickname "Snoopy", and in-flight launches started in May 1962.

===Development for YF-12===
In 1960 Lockheed started development of the [[Lockheed YF-12]] interceptor, as a lower-cost replacement for the F-108. The GAR-9/ASG-18 were moved to this project. The F-12 would have featured four flip-open internal weapons bays on the chines behind the cockpit, one of these filled with electronics. The F-12B bays were too small for the GAR-9, so the GAR-9B was developed with flip-out fins to reduce its diameter. It weighed {{convert|365|kg|lb|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.testpilot.ru/usa/hughes/aim/47/gar9_e.htm |title=AIM-47 (GAR-9) Falcon long-range air-to-air missile |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Testpilot.ru |access-date=2015-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118192802/http://www.testpilot.ru/usa/hughes/aim/47/gar9_e.htm |archive-date=2015-01-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Test firings of the GAR-9A from the prototype F-12As resulted in six kills from seven launches, the lone miss due to a missile power failure (there were several non-guiding test launches as well). The missile was renamed '''AIM-47''' in late 1962 as part of the transition to [[United States Department of Defense aerospace vehicle designation|common naming]] for aerospace vehicles across the U.S. Department of Defense in 1962. The last launch was from a YF-12 flying at Mach 3.2 and an altitude of {{convert|74400|ft|m}} at a [[QB-47]] target drone {{convert|500|ft|m}} off the ground.<ref>B. Rich, ''Skunk Works'' (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1994), p. 236</ref>

In 1966, the F-12 project was canceled just as the F-108 had been. Another project which expressed an interest in the design was the [[XB-70 Valkyrie]], a bomber which could have carried the AIM-47 for self-defense. This aircraft was also canceled after Soviet deployment of effective high-altitude surface-to-air missiles made high-altitude attacks on the Soviet Union impractical.

Hughes had built 80 pre-production AIM-47 missiles.

== Legacy ==
The AIM-47 was used as a base for the [[AIM-54 Phoenix]] (originally the AAM-N-11), intended for the [[General Dynamics F-111B]]. This project was also canceled in 1968, but the weapon system finally found a home on the [[F-14 Tomcat]], entering service in the early 1970s.

In 1966, the basic airframe was adapted with the seeker from the [[AGM-45 Shrike]] and the {{convert|250|lb|abbr=on}} warhead from the Mk&nbsp;81 bomb to create the high-speed [[AGM-76 Falcon]] anti-radar missile, although this did not see service.<ref name=parsch>Andreas Parsch, [http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-76.html Hughes AGM-76 Falcon], Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, 2004</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Missile designation]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYKbPPRFE6o AIM-47 Falcon missile launch]

{{US missiles}}

[[Category:Cold War air-to-air missiles of the United States|AIM-047]]
[[Category:Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]