Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!leah!bingvaxu!sunybcs!rutgers!att!cbnews!maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
From: maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George W. Herbert)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Sparrow miss rate off Libya
Summary: we keep missing...
Message-ID: <5796@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 21 Apr 89 03:28:51 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: maniac%garnet.Berkeley.EDU@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (George W. Herbert)

In article <5735@cbnews.ATT.COM> nelson_p@apollo.com (Peter Nelson) writes:
>
> What are the details for these figures?   What missiles and what periods
> of time are they based on?  I thought the Royal Navy claimed a 'hit
> rate' for AIM9L (Sidewinders) of >80% in the Falklands war.   And
> I believe the Israelis were getting similar numbers with their Sidewinders
> against the Syrians at about that same time.  

These figures are primarily off the US Vietnam experience.  The figures
of 10% sparrow and 15% sidewinder are atmittedly using older models, but the
fact remains that _most missiles miss._  In the falklands, the british achived 
a higher hit rate (82?84?% i can't remember and am not sitting on my ref.)  
The Israeli's get an average of about 20% hits, over their history.  Recently,
with 9L's, more like 50%.  But sparrows haven't been tested recently (before
libya, 1982 Syrian AF mysterious midair dissapearance ;).
	What I was saying was that missiles are and remain innacurate.        
Peacetime and non dogfight (most british shots weren't...) conditions lead to
MUCh higher than real life hit %ages.

> were being fired.  One missile failed to launch and was ejected over the
> side.   The reporter made no comment about this and doubting what I had
> just seen I called the Navy (Public Affairs) in Washington who confirmed
> it.  How common is this sort of failure?               
>
About 5%, last i heard. And yes, I saw it too.

ps-someone in switzerland (?) asked me a question about Shaw's Air tactics book.
I cannot mail to them, and can't find anyone who can, so here goes:
the book does not contain information about Air to Ground tactics, but
does cover (at one point) using bombs against helicopters.

george william herbert
maniac@garnet.berkeley.edu