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Originally posted by StratosFear
reply to post by Dr Love
It has been considered once before but with the introduction of BVR missiles like the AIM-120 and advanced thrust vectoring AIM-9X(these things are coool, fires like a bottle rocket without the stick but its accurate) it just doesn`t seem logical. You would need an entire FCS facing to the rear just to get a lock, like the SU-37, making the aircraft heavier and larger which is the exact opposite approach. With all the super-manuvering aircraft coming out you probably wouldn`t want some guy hanging on your six o`clock long enough to get a lock. Now if larger heavy aircraft like the B-1 and B-2 become more vulnerable to air to air threats it might be a good idea to have a rear firing weapon of some sorts when they are down on the deck flying penetration missions.
Besides we are working on point defense lasers that will make dogfighting obsolete once and for all.
Now for space combat i can see somebody having some kind of explosive device dropped like a flare, probably with some kind of magnetic tracking capability.
Originally posted by harrytuttle
When the missile is first dropped from the aircraft backwards you have aerodynamic problems.
Secondly, as the missile engines begin to provide thrust in the opposite direction it's initially going, the missile will actually begin to slow down and stop before it begins to move towards it's target. In other words, it would drop like a rock and missiles that aren't moving can't be controlled.
So for a period of time this backwards firing missile would be totally out of control - so regaining control of it as it's thrust picks up in the rear facing direction would be a very difficult task to handle.
It would probably be easier to fire the missile facing forward and have it turn around in flight towards your target.
Originally posted by butcherguy
If the aircraft were capable of overtaking bullets that were fired from it, multistage rockets also would not function, as the first stage would fly right through the second stage when the second stage tried to launch!