DISCONTINUED Eduard 648187 AIM-4G

The AIM-4 Falcon was an American short-range air-to-air missile. Its first prototypes appeared in the late 1940s, and it entered the US armed forces in 1956. The AIM-4 Falcon was a solid fuel-powered missile with a range of up to 9,700 meters, capable of carrying a warhead weighing 12 kg with a total curb weight of 54.4 kg.

The AIM-4 Falcon missile was developed by Hughes Aircraft in response to US Air Force demand for a guided missile with supersonic velocity. The manufacturer used semi-active radar guidance in it. In order to reduce the weight of the missile, Hughes used plastic elements made of glass fiber in the AIM-4 Falcon, which was a rare production solution at that time (late 1940s). The first mass-produced version of this missile was the AIM-4, later it entered the production of the AIM-4B, guided by its own thermal warhead. Both versions, however, were clearly limited in maneuverability and their use against maneuverable Soviet fighters could have ended in failure. Therefore, the development of two more versions (AIM-4C and AIM-4A) in which this feature of the missile was clearly improved. There were also new versions of the missile (AIM-4 D, E and F), which had a changed rocket propulsion and a higher maximum speed. In the US armed forces, AIM-4 was carried by such planes as: F-89 Scorpion, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-101 Voodoo and F-4 Phantom II. The users of the AIM-4 missiles were also other countries, for example: Sweden or Canada.

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