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Was the Matra R 530 ever used in combat?


Brad

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I was doing some random reading and it was mentioned the R 530 was a difficult weapon to use due to it's limited launch parameters and short range, which then got me googling if the weapon was used in combat at all and I could find nothing. So hence my question; did anyone actually fire one in anger?

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There's at least one kill recorded by IDF/AF on 29 november 1966, by Michael Haber aboard IIICJ n°34, against an Egyptian MiG-19.

I was pretty sure that there were a few more, but can't find any so far.

R.530 was not a dogfight weapon, it was the intended for the Mirage in its interceptor mission to tackle bombers.

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AFAIK the Argentinians used the R 530 without any succes against the British in 1982,while the Pakistan AF employed it in the 1971 war against India.  

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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PAF records shows three R.530 kills in the 1971 war, with two acknowledged by IAF.

 

First is a Canberra B(I).58 shot down at night on 4 december 1971 above Skardu (Pak) by Flt.Lt Naeem Atta from n°5 sqn PAF.

Second is a Hunter on 5 december 1971 above Sakesar (Pak), by Flt.Lt Safdar, also from n°5 sqn.

And the last would be an Su-7 shot down over Narowal (India) by Grp.Cpt "Nosey" Haider, n°5 sqn.

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On 22/4/2017 at 0:40 PM, Hook said:

AFAIK the Argentinians used the R 530 without any succes against the British in 1982,while the Pakistan AF employed it in the 1971 war against India.  

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Highly unlikely. All reported launchings TMK involve Shafrir or Magic missiles.

 

Fernando

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The Israelis were highly unimpressed with the R.530, so much so that they usually flew without it, relying instead on cannon armament. The kill mentioned by Antoine was to the best of my knowledge, the only kill recorded by Israel's fighter squadrons with it.

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To be fair to the R.530, it was (like a lot of its contemporaries) designed to be used against unmanoeuvring, lumbering bombers instead of nimble fightersize targets.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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11 hours ago, Hook said:

To be fair to the R.530, it was (like a lot of its contemporaries) designed to be used against unmanoeuvring, lumbering bombers instead of nimble fightersize targets.

 

Ditto Firestreak and Red Top?

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On Friday, April 28, 2017 at 8:53 AM, Hook said:

To be fair to the R.530, it was (like a lot of its contemporaries) designed to be used against unmanoeuvring, lumbering bombers instead of nimble fightersize targets.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

So a Vulcan during Black Buck would have actually  been a suitable target, no ?

Or an Egytian Tu-16 Badger ...

:devil:

 

 

Edited by exdraken
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19 hours ago, exdraken said:

So a Vulcan during Black Buck would have actually  been a suitable target, no ?

Or an Egytian Tu-16 Badger ...

:devil:

 

 

 

Well, the Vulcan is remarkably agile for its size... ;) 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

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On ‎4‎/‎22‎/‎2017 at 5:12 AM, Antoine said:

R.530 was not a dogfight weapon, it was the intended for the Mirage in its interceptor mission to tackle bombers.

 

The same was true of the cockpit switchology.  Operating a pulse radar in a single seat aircraft, prior to the introduction of HOTAS was very intensive and meant burying one's head in the radar scope (often literally).  Once it turned into a visual fight, the radar and radar guided weapon were essentially useless, because the radar typically required "heads down" operation to get a lock.  Late in its career, the contemporary F-106 got around this by adding the capability to use the IRST seeker to cue the radar in a visual fight allowing the pilot to keep looking outside during the process.

 

Regards,

Murph

 

 

Edited by Murph
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