http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-4.html píše: The AIM-4D was used in combat in South-East Asia by some F-4D Phantoms, which were equipped with special LAU-42/A launchers for this purpose. However, it became soon apparent that the AIM-4D was ill-suited for the close-range dogfights encountered over Vietnam, and only 5 kills were achieved with the Falcon. The main problem of the missile was seeker cooling. The limited amount of on-board nitrogen coolant meant that the seeker could not be pre-cooled for any length of time, which in turn meant that it had to be cooled more or less shortly before firing, i.e. when close-range combat had already started. This cooling, however, took up to 5 seconds which is like eternity in a dogfight, so that most targets were out of reach again when the missile was finally ready. Moreover, when the coolant was exhausted after several aborted launches, the Falcon was just useless dead weight, which had to be brought back to base for servicing. Another problem of the Falcon was the lack of a proximity fuze, which made it effectively a hit-to-kill missile. Part of the blame for the abysmal combat record of the AIM-4D has been given to the fighter pilots, who did not make good use of the Falcon's relatively long lock-on range (9.6 km / 6 miles), which would have made BVR kills possible. However, this blame is somewhat unjustified, because combat rules required visual identification of essentially every potential target before engagement, making the deployment of the Falcon in Vietnam questionable at best. The AIM-4D was gradually withdrawn from use beginning in 1969, and by 1973, the AIM-4D was no longer operational with the USAF.
The final variant of the Falcon was the experimental XAIM-4H, of which only 25 were built in 1970/71. It was an improved AIM-4D with an active laser proximity fuze, a new warhead, and enhanced manoeuverability. The proximity fuze consisted of 4 laser beams in the nose, perpendicular to the missile axis, which effectively created a disc-shaped detection zone around the missile nose. However, because of the Falcon's general problems, and because the AIM-9 Sidewinder proved to be an increasingly successful and versatile IR homing missile, the AIM-4H project was aborted in 1971.
The final Falcons in USAF service were the AIM-4F/G's used by the F-106A interceptors. When the latter was phased out in the 1980's, the Falcon ceased to be part of the USAF inventory.
Other Falcon variants and developments are the GAR-11/AIM-26, GAR-9/AIM-47, and AGM-76 Falcon missiles.
Pokud tam najdete zasadni chyby, dejte vedet.Preklad píše: AIM-4D byla pouzita v boji v jihovyhodni Asii na letounech F-4D Phantom, ktere z tohoto duvodu dostaly specialni odpalovaci rampy LAU-42/A . Kazdopadne se brzy ukazalo, ze AIM-4D byla nespolehliva na souboje na kratkou vzdalenost nad Vietnamem, doslo pouze k 5 sestrelum raketou Falcon. Hlavnim problemem bylo chlazeni zamerovaci hlavice. Omezene mnozstvi dusikoveho chladiva na palube znamenalo, ze hlavice nemohla byt predchlazena na libovolnou dobu, diky cemuz muselo ke chlazeni dojit velmi kratou dobu pred odpalenim, tj. leckdy az ve chvili, kdy se uz samotny souboj rozbehnul Toto chlazeni ale trvalo nejmene 5 sekund, coz je v dogfightu temer vecnost, a tak vetsina cilu zmizela ze zamerovace ve chvili, kdy byla raketa pripravena k odpaleni. Navic, kdyz doslo k vycerpani chladiva po par prerusenych odpalenich, stal se Falcon jen mrtvou vahou, ktera musela byt privezena zpet. Dalsim problemem Falconu byla absence bezkontaktni roznetky (tj. odpaleni v blizkosti cile bez kontaktu s nim), ktera by z nich udelala efektnivni A-A zbran. Cast ostudy z prisernych bojovych statistik raket AIM-4D je pricitana stihacim pilotum, kteri nedokazali spravne vyuzit relativne dlouhou zamerovaci vzdalenost (9.6 km / 6 mil), ktera umoznovala zasahy za hranici viditelnosti (BVR). Kazdopadne toto je nevyznamne, nebot pravidla boje vyzadovaly vizualni idenifikaci kazdeho potencialniho cile pred utokem, coz jeste vice zpochybnilo pouziti Falconu ve Vietnamu.AIM-4D zacaly byt postupne vyrazovany zacatkem roku 1969, a v roce 1973 nebyly zadne AIM-4D ve vyzbroji USAF.
Konecna varianta Falconu byla experimentalni XAIM-4H, jichz bylo 25 vyrobeno mezi lety 1970/71. Slo o vylepsenou AIM-4D s laserovou bezkontaktni roznetkou, novou bojovou hlavici a vylepsenou manevrovatelnosti. Bezkontaktni roznetku tvorily 4 laserove paprsky v predni casti strely, kolme na osu rakety, ktere vytvorily zonu diskoveho tvaru kolem nosu rakety. Kazdopadne kvuli obecnym problemum techto raket a spolehlivosti nastupujicich AIM-9 Sidewinder s infracervenym navadenim, byl projekt AIM-4H zastaven roku 1971.
Poslenimi Falcony ve sluzbe u USAF byly AIM-4F/G podvesovane pod F-106A. S vyrazenim F-106A doslo i k vyrazeni techto poslednich verzi raket AIM-4.
Dalsimi variantami Falconu byly rakety GAR-11/AIM-26, GAR-9/AIM-47 a AGM-76.
tak jsem si všimnul že se mi nepodařilo správně zkopírovat odkaz na stránky tak jsem z nich alespoň vytáhnul tu tabulku. Pro zajimavost, vyse zminena akce byla korunovana sestrelem letounu MiG-19S, z toho, co jsem cetl, to vypada na prvni nadzvukovy sestrel kanonem vubec.His Homestead AFB Phantom II carried two AIM-7s in rear wells, a pair of AIM-4s ('Hughes Arrow in the Heart') outboard and an ALQ-87 pod in the forward left missile bay.
