Aim-7 M

Funky Trees Guided Air-To-Air Missile

A longer-ranged BVR(Beyond Visual Range) option to my funky-trees guided Air-To-Air missiles. It is a 1:1 replica of the real thing and has realistic performance and stats, No part of the missile is guided/controlled by in-game default missiles nor gyros!.

History of the AIM-7, directly copied from Wikipedia
The AIM-7 Sparrow (Air Intercept Missile[5]) is an American medium-range semi-active radar homing air-to-air missile operated by the United States Air Force, United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and various other air forces and navies. Sparrow and its derivatives were the West's principal beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missile from the late 1950s until the 1990s.
The most common version of the Sparrow today, the AIM-7M, entered service in 1982 and featured a new inverse monopulse seeker (matching the capabilities of Skyflash), active radar proximity fuse, digital controls, improved ECM resistance, and better low-altitude performance. It was used to good advantage in the 1991 Gulf War, where it scored many USAF air-to-air kills. Of 44 missiles fired, 30 (68.2%) hit their intended targets resulting in 24/26 (54.5%/59.1%) kills. 19 kills were obtained beyond visual range.

Player usage

Simply select an air target and BRIEFLY HOLD DOWN FireWeapons button (left alt on PC) and the missiles will fire one by one. No need to acquire lock and such.

Features and abilities

• 1:1 replica of the Aim-7M missile
• Not guided by default in game missile or gyro
• Realistic performance as referenced to War Thunder
• Uses a combination of Proportional Guidance and Inertial Guidance
• Very long range, capable of BVR combat
• Able to glide to target after fuel has been exhausted
• Able to re-engage target if it misses the first time
• Able to lock on after launch
• Impervious to countermeasures
• Gives no launch warning to targeted aircraft

Limitatons and problems

• The missile's performance is highly dependent on the performance of the device, where a lower frame rate could dramatically lower the missile's performance
• The missile has a slightly hard time orientating and tracking targets when it is pointing directly up or down
• The smoke generator (a tiny hellfire missile inside the missile which it's sole purpose is to generate smoke for looks and provides no guidance or thrust) may sometimes fall out of the missile due to violent maneuvers or lag. This does not affect the performance of the missile whatsoever.
• The missile is less maneuverable and slightly slower at higher altitudes (>30,000 ft)
• The proximity fuse has a chance of not detonating due to physics limitations

States

Max speed: Mach 4
Maximum flight range: 50KM
G load: >30Gs
Rocket burn time: 4.5 seconds booster, 11 seconds sustainer
Track mode: Semi-Active-Radar-Homing (SARH)
Guidance time: 75 seconds
Weight: 509 lbs

Notes

This is a much better attempt at a replica of a real life missile (looking back at my Python 3 post lmao). I have recently figured out how to code proportional guidance and it is a lot simpler and shorter code although slightly less accurate, so I paired it with my tried and tested inertial guidance code. In my next projects I will not only be making a missile using proportional guidance, but also focus on the missile's adaptability as it would be cool if other people can easily mount and use my missiles on their machines as well. I am thinking about something like the AIM-9J/P variants or R-60 or even R-73 series (although then I would need to dabble in thrust vectoring technology)

If you would like me to mount these missile on your build, please contact me in the comments as it is still quite a process to do and so I would be happy to do it for you.

Credits

Jundroo for Wasp as my test bed