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From: zam@athena.mit.edu (Nor Aazizam Mohd Aasif)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Infra-red/heat seeking missiles
Message-ID: <1991Mar6.040513.23798@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 6 Mar 91 04:05:13 GMT
References: <1991Feb28.052606.10693@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar1.054007.1163@cbnews.att.com> <1991Mar4.212132.9342@cbnews.att.com>
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From: zam@athena.mit.edu (Nor Aazizam Mohd Aasif)

	I am a bit confused with the term "infra-red" and "heat
seeking" since they are so often used interchangeably.  Is there any
significant difference between infra-red and a pure heat-seeking
missile?  I remembered reading that the AIM-9 Sidewinder is equipped
with an infra-red homing devise, apart from its heat-seeking ability.
Does that fact that it has the infra-red homing devise contribute to
the missile performance of being able to attack the target from any
angle, and not just from the behind?  Considering that jet fighters
body(surface) temperature increases as they fly, can't a pure
heat-seeking missile zero in on the kinetic heating generated by the
aircraft?

	Hope someone can help me out on this.

Thank you

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