yorkie, is this true ??

[gremlin]

http://i425.photobucket.com/albums/pp338/albachas/speedtrap.jpg

[Stafford]

I thought the Sidewinder was an air to air missile, nice but a spoof me thinks.

[Pedro]

Sidewinder is air to air and this is pure urban myth....

[Nickj]

If the pilot could see the plod on the bridge and was loaded with the 9X then possibly he could have eyeballed the missile down to the target, they can link to a helmet heads up for guidance and acquisition. It wouldn't fuze but it would be moving fast enough to trash the car.
An AGM-88 would do a much better job and ought to be able to find a range finding mm band radar gun.

[animaluk]

this has been going about for years, like the us aircraft carrier and the light house

Both myths

[neilbaldry]

What a load of pish.

[Catspoon]

I'm a bit concerned at the amount of in-depth weapons knowledge on here. :D

[Kato]

At the risk of being labelled a geek :eek:

The story is almost certainly false for a number of reasons. First off, police radar is relatively weak; it doesn't need to be strong, and you wouldn't want to fry passing motorists or the police officers ( theres a thought) who use it daily. These units don't have much range; a few miles or so is sufficient since the police officer needs to be in line-of-sight with the vehicle he’d like to track.

Next, a number of different radar types (pulse, continuous-scan, doppler, and so on) are used for different purposes. Doppler radar is used for tracking the speed of an object, whether it's a moving automobile or a particularly threatening thunderstorm. Pulse units are used for aerial and naval navigation as well as military applications; in the latter case their ON/OFF nature makes it slightly more difficult for an enemy to identify their source.

Additionally, there are different types of scan profiles in use, such as circular, unidirectional, bi-directional, helical, raster, palmer, conical, and track-while-scan. Police radar units are directional ones that send pulses in a relatively narrow cone in the direction the officer points the device. (This type of radar is used to prevent the operators from being exposed to the devices' high-frequency radiation over long periods of time.) Therefore, it's pretty unlikely that an officer pointing a hand-held unit at an incoming car would also manage to illuminate a flying aircraft or an intervening hill, a large building, or even heavy plant growth would block any stray signal.

Surface-to-air missile (SAM) radars behave differently than handheld police units. Also, each type or model of radar gives off very specific characteristics, and the onboard systems in military planes can differentiate among these types of threats (e.g., a SAM-2 vs. a ZSU vs. an F-16). Every radar produces a radio frequency (RF) signal with specific characteristics that differentiate it from all other signals and define its capabilities and limitations. Excepting a case of incredible coincidence, the police radar wouldn't be on the "threat" list. Bloody shame really

Lastly, SAM radar units are also relatively short range systems 30-50km), since the usual practice is to employ longer-range tracking stations to keep watch on incoming aircraft, then alert the SAM unit in the aircraft’s flight path of the impending arrival of the hostile plane.

[Bodybag]

Kato, you're a geek!! (I thought I'd get that out the way for you!!) :D

[Kato]

Thanks Phil:spin:

[Yorkie]

Urban!

But what a pity!

Yorkie.

[giler]

I'm a bit concerned at the amount of in-depth weapons knowledge on here. :D

Strangely enough, I am quite re-assured by it:hail:

[Yorkie]

Wait for the uprising!

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3372024601/

Yorkie.

[LouSCannon]

I am the road warrior... love it! :)

[Grumpy]

That can't be you in the clip, Yorkie, the guy's got soooo much more hair the you!!!!:chuckle::chuckle:

[Yorkie]

Damn you Grump!!!

Yorkie.

[neilbaldry]

'Tactical computer' - hmm its not a tie-fighter
Why do they call it a 'NATO fighter' and not an RAF fighter
If it was a 'Tornado fighter jet' ('We' dont call them that), that would mean its an F3 variant, and for low flying exercises in UK airspace, it wouldnt carry live munitions.
And we have already talked in depth about the Sidewinders. Although for a radar gun, I recon an ALARM missile (carried by RAF GR4 Tornado's) would be a better bet than a Maverick.

[cairojay]

Its not strictly true that sidewinders are exclusively air to air. Its an old missile and a number of vairiants have been produced, including an anti-tank version but more specifically the AGM-122A sidearm anti-radiation missile which utilises a different guidance system than that of the old heat-seeking version. It was specifically designed for detection of ground based radar systems hence the possible reference. However, its all guff as there are none left and newer better missile systems have been developed subsequently. Good story though and shame its not true.

[Capo]

The sidewinder AIM9* is a heat seeker and is not radar guided.

[cairojay]

The AGM-122 Sidearm is a small Anti Radiation Missile, carried on the Army AH 64A/D Apache and Marine Corps AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopters for self defense against anti aircraft gun and SAM radars.

The AGM-122A SIDEARM weapon system consists of an air launched guided missile, which employs passive radar detection, proportional navigation guidance, and an active optical target detecting device. The missile utilizes the LAU-7 series launcher. The SIDEARM utilizes an AIM-9C SIDEWINDER guidance section modified to detect and track a radiating ground-based air defense system radar. The target detecting device is modified for air-to-surface use, employing forward hemisphere acquisition capability. SIDEARM shares a high degree of commonality with SIDEWINDER AIM-9L/M aft components. The AIM-9L/M warhead, safe and arm device, rocket motor, and wings are redesignated SIDEARM-unique at the time they are painted green. The LAU-7 SIDEWINDER launcher provides the electronic and mechanical interface between the missile and launch aircraft. The LAU-7 internal cooling capability (nitrogen bottle) is not used for SIDEARM application.

The AGM-122A is a rebuilt AIM-9C Sidewinder, a semi-active radar homing missile using a conically scanning semi-active seeker. Originally designed for the F-8 Crusader, it was unique among the Sidewinder variants, which are all otherwise infra-red guided. In the mid-1980s several hundred of these missiles were refurbished and redesignated as the AGM-122A Sidearm in response to a Marine Corpsrequirement for a lightweight Anti-Radiation Missile to arm Marine Corps AV-8s, A-4s and helicopters.

[skank]

"I am the Nightrider. I'm a fuel injected suicide machine. I am the rocker, I am the roller, I am the out-of-controller! "

man, i love that movie :D