Can anybody explain how infrared heat seeking missiles work? They’re so much fun in all those computer games, but the technology in real life is amazing. Why doesn’t the missle head straight for the sun?
Also, with jets like the FA-117 Stealth Fighter, how could the thrust possibly be deflected so that heat seeking missles can’t find them?
Just guessing that the fighter can outfly the missile.
I think that stealth fighters mix fresh air with the jet exhaust to cool it down. Therefore, less infrared.
It was my understanding that the F-117 has ducts which mix cooler fresh air with the exhaust (as was just stated), and also spread out the exhaust over a larger area further cooling it, and also have fins which shield the hotter parts of the exhaust from normal angles of view, all of which combine to reduce but not eliminate the heat signature.
It has the same basic idea with radar. It tries to eliminate as much as it can, then what it can’t eliminate it tries to shove someplace where it’s harder to see.
The F-117 is just harder to see. It’s not invisible to infra-red or radar.
The F-117, despite its name, is more of a light bomber than a real fighter. It was never designed to be a top of the line dog fighter. I don’t know exactly what its capabilities are, but it would have a harder time outmanuevering a missile than a true fighter would.
The fighter can outfly the missile but then it won’t be able to do the mission and anyway you have to know that the missile is fired. Most of the time fighters will go in low to get below the radar. Shoulder fired missiles are meant to scare the bombers up from the ground and into the radar, since you can’t fly mach to close to the ground, so that better systems can handle them. Not that stinger can’t shoot planes down but for a real war this is the plan.
Just to clarify some things:
-FA-117 Nighthawk’ top speed is subsonic.
-Stinger missles travel at 1500 mph, more than twice the speed of the jet.
Therefore, the jet cannot outfly the missile as stated above.
As far as the jet outflying the missile, this is not a “revenge weapon” like the older Redeye missile was, it is an all aspect weapon. Incoming or Crossing shots would be more common. The Stinger can pull many more G’s than a human can, and more than most aircraft, so outmaneuvering is not the best defensive option, either. Unless the aircraft has IR sensors of it’s own looking down, the pilot will not know it has been fired upon unless it has a visual of the launch. The newer models of the missile (POST, RMP) have an Ultra-Violet scanning option, too. If the computer is “confused” by multiple IR sources (flares, IR Strobe, the Sun), it changes gears and looks for the “shadow” cast by the target against the background UV Radiation.
If the gunner engages a target properly, the plane had better put something between itself and the missile to block the view.
As for the OP, the gunner gets a lock on the IR signature while the seeker is looking down the centerline of the missile, with a very small Field of View. If the target is near the sun, wait a second, then engage. If it is coming out of the sun toward you, then the Stinger team to your left or right is going to have a clear shot.
Major UncleBill
USMCR
2nd LAAD Bn (90-92)
4th LAAD Bn (97-99)
Nitpick
Having a background in Controls, I find the direction of this post slightly unsettling.
Infrared/UV … devices are only sensors. They are a very important part of the overall missile system, but missiles usually don’t fail due to a sensor malfunction.
Let us say that at any given time, the missile knows the position of the aircraft (using whatever sensors), the job of the missile is to predict the future location and work up a trajectory to intercept the aircraft. It becomes complicated when you consider that its 3D space.
Getting technical, the missile has to adjust in real time (often feed forward control or Advanced Control) Its x,y,z direction velocity while computing the aircrafts new path. Easier said than done