Bendix AAM-N-10 Eagle AAM, rival proposals and developments

[avatar]

is this the same missile as above
probably not.

 

[Pyrrhic victory]

1959 Ad for the AAM-N-10 Eagle on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/BENDIX-Navy-Eagle-air-to-air-missile-system-1959-Ad_W0QQitemZ360028991766QQihZ023QQcategoryZ21092QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

 

[KJ_Lesnick]

Anyone have any information on this missile, other than it was to be used by the F6D Missileer?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

First, there's Andreas Partsch's site:

Bendix AAM-N-10 Eagle

I have some more technical details on the seeker.

Sanders made the pulse doppler active radar seeker. 300w peak power, 100w average. PRF 150-300 kc/s. Dish diameter 12in. Beam width 15 deg. Frequency C band. Conical scan frequency (after acquisition) 200-300 c/s. Max closing speed Mach 8. Max doppler frequency of target 80 kc/s. Range accuracy +-1% of range or 1,000 yards. Guidance range 10nm. Weight of Sanders seeker 90lb + 35lb for Bendix supplied antenna and gimbal.

Aerial is plane polarised with 4 dipole feeds each followed by a ferrite modulator in order to produce an electronic conical scan in track mode. Gain quite low as affected by feeds used by Bendix in home-on-jam mode. Power generated by a Sperry reflex klystron (1w) fed via a ferrite isolator to Sperry 3 cavity klystron power amplifier with gain of 20-25dB.

The receiver used 9 banks of 11 filters.

Two home on jam systems were used. For all prfs there was a clear part of the doppler spectrum between 80 and 110 kc/s where no target or clutter signals should be seen. This could be used to distinguish jamming signals. Also a second receiver (by Bendix) produced midcourse guidance when the host aircraft's AI radar was jammed.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

APG-81 radar info here:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/4266

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Whole bunch of wind tunnel photos of the Eagle here:

http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/...w_Hypersonic_Tunnels_2#Grumman.2FEagle_Models
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Test_176:_Bendix_(Grumman)_Eagle_Missile

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

A recent donation from a Grumman engineer to the Museum had the attached drawing from Grumman for the initial airframe configuration.

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Steve Pace]

Theory: The Eagle missile was canceled and resurected as the Phoenix thus the name - it rose from the ashes of the Eagle. -SP

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

Theory: The Eagle missile was canceled and resurrected as the Phoenix thus the name - it rose from the ashes of the Eagle. -SP

I've recently done some more digging on the F-111B for an article. Part of the result was sorting out the Eagle vs. Phoenix missile. The Eagle was a two-stage air-to-air missile being designed by Bendix with Grumman as a subcontractor for the airframe. It was canceled along with the F6D. The Navy subsequently selected Hughes to develop both the Airborne Missile Control System (AMCS) and Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) that were based on its work on the Air Force YF-12 interceptor program . The Navy missile was designated AIM-54. As you wrote, it was named Phoenix probably because it had risen from the ashes of the Missileer program, although it might possibly have referred to its resurrection from the ashes of the Air Force program. It was single-stage, with somewhat less range compared to the Eagle, offset by the supersonic dash capability of the F-111B now that the radar antenna was only three feet in diameter.

The picture was furnished by Anthony Thornborough. The Air Force AIM-47 is on the left and the Navy AIM-54 on the right.

 

[Steve Pace]

Well said! -SP

 

[sferrin]

Theory: The Eagle missile was canceled and resurected as the Phoenix thus the name - it rose from the ashes of the Eagle. -SP

Pretty sure it was the AIM-47 Falcon's ashes the Phoenix rose from. Eagle was from a different company.

edit: Looks like SP beat me to it.

 

[SOC]

Theory: The Eagle missile was canceled and resurected as the Phoenix thus the name - it rose from the ashes of the Eagle. -SP

Pretty sure it was the AIM-47 Falcon's ashes the Phoenix rose from. Eagle was from a different company.

edit: Looks like SP beat me to it.

Error. AIM-54 development began as the AAM-N-11 in late 1960. Hughes built off of the AIM-47 and AN/ASG-18 to develop the AIM-54 and AWG-9, but there was a time during the Phoenix's development when both missiles/radars were going to enter service. Phoenix being resurrected from the Eagle does make sense from a program standpoint, as the F-14 replaced the F-111B which replaced the Missileer, in terms of being the fleet air defense LRAAM shooter.

Now, the F-108/AIM-47 combo was cancelled in late 1959, so that might be where the Phoenix "rose" from as well, although the AIM-47 and AN/ASG-18 did still continue development.

 

[Stargazer]

Pretty sure it was the AIM-47 Falcon's ashes the Phoenix rose from. Eagle was from a different company.

Yes, but when it comes to missiles, the company is not necessarily a given. There have been numerous examples of missiles or rockets started by a certain company and later produced by another.

 

[Jemiba]

From Aviation Week, October 1960, the first published drawing of the Eagle AAM:

 

[sferrin]

Grumman's looks like a mini Nike Hercules.

 

[Triton]

Artist's impression of Bendix XAAM-N-10 Eagle missile.

Source:

zonamilitar.com.ar

This domain may be for sale!

www.zonamilitar.com.ar

 

[JFC Fuller]

A Bendix Eagle model came up for sale at Bonhams in 2019:

BENDIX GRUMMAN EAGLE MISSILE MODEL.
Contractor's model in wood and metal, on aluminum base, engraved on the base with Bendix and Grumman logos, and "Eagle," 20 x 3-1/2 inches diameter, excluding stand, in custom wood box. Traces of felt residue from box adhering to fuselage.
Provenance: Manufactured by a major aerospace model shop.

The AAM-N-10 Eagle missile was developed by Bendix for the U.S. Navy, and manufactured by Grumman for testing in 1961. It was intended to be launched from a carrier-based Douglas F6D "Missileer" aircraft, and would have a range of 160 nautical miles. The Navy cancelled the Missileer project before the missile was even tested, and without the aircraft that it was intended for, it was never put into production.

 

[NMaude]

Is it my imagination or did the Eagle's booster have control-fins on its wings just like on the BOMARC?

 

[Archibald]

These two were loosely related at many levels...

 

[NMaude]

These two were loosely related at many levels...

What are these other connections?

Now to clarify my previous post the BOMARC instead of having conventional ailerons had all-moving wing-tips.

One final thing does anyone know if any prototype missile hardware was built and tested before the Eagle was cancelled?

 

[Archibald]

I meant, the seeker was the same: Bendix AN/DPN-53, the first ever airborne pulse-doppler seeker.

 

[NMaude]

I stumbled across this interesting article by someone who was involved in the programme:

Navy Electronic Warfare

He also filed a patent to do with the Eagle - Method of Determining the Launch Time of Air-to-Air Missiles

 

[CTimm]

Enjoy!

Article on the AAM-N-10 Eagle.

 

[sferrin]

View attachment 711515
My illustration: Also see https://tommythomason.com/books/vought-f8u/

Any info out there about the "V-415A" missiles? I've wondered about them since I saw them in your book.

 

[Bill S]

Any info out there about the "V-415A" missiles? I've wondered about them since I saw them in your book.

I am sure that I posted these previously to this site, however it must have been a dream. All apologies if this is a repeat. Here is the SAC for the V-415A

 

[Scott Kenny]

I am sure that I posted these previously to this site, however it must have been a dream. All apologies if this is a repeat. Here is the SAC for the V-415A

Woof, that is a big beast of a missile. 415lbs of propellant. 1000lbs all in.

Surprised that Vought couldn't figure out how to fit 4x Sparrows on the Crusader 3, though. 2x on the fuselage corners and 2x staggered off the centerline instead of 1x on the centerline.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Enjoy!

Article on the AAM-N-10 Eagle.

I missed this - a great article!

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Grumman 327 for Naval TFX fits into the AAM-N-10 / AIM-54 picture somewhere. Grumman were responsible for the Bendix AAM-N-10 airframe and production.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/grumman-design-327-tfx-n-missile.37601

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I am sure that I posted these previously to this site, however it must have been a dream. All apologies if this is a repeat. Here is the SAC for the V-415A

Interesting missile. Semi-active radar homing using CW. The associated radar has 2 x CW illuminators that seem to be separated from the main antenna to allow continuous illumination of two targets while the main radar does track-while-scan.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Whole bunch of wind tunnel photos of the Eagle here:

http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/...w_Hypersonic_Tunnels_2#Grumman.2FEagle_Models
http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/Test_176:_Bendix_(Grumman)_Eagle_Missile

Thanks to Wikimedia, I have recovered some of these pictures.

 

[TomS]

P

Woof, that is a big beast of a missile. 415lbs of propellant. 1000lbs all in.

Roughly Phoenix sized. Eagle was even bigger, thanks to the booster.