Italian C-7 air-air missile

Petrus

ACCESS: Top Secret
Senior Member
Joined
28 November 2006
Messages
699
Reaction score
633
I've gathered some information on an air-to-air missile that was built in Italy in the late 1950s or early 1960s under the C-7 designation. Reportedly it was tested on Italian air force's F-86 Sabres but was never adopted.

Here is the only photo (or drawing) of the missile that is available on the Internet:

i_c-7_01.jpg


At http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/c7.htm you may find technical data of the missile, although the website is about sounding rockets and not military missiles (the Italians developed, I believe, some such rockets using components of the C-7 missile). Here is what the website says:

he C-7 air-to-air missile program began with a contract to Contraves in 1957. Later the design was assigned to SISPRE, a Fiat/Finmeccanica subsidiary. A few were manufactured and deployed in 1961-62. The missile used a BPD M2P30 motor with polybutadiene propellant delivering a specific impulse of 220 seconds.

(...)

Manufacturer: Contraves / Fiat SISPRE. Total Mass: 65 kg (143 lb). Core Diameter: 0.16 m (0.52 ft). Total Length: 1.96 m (6.43 ft). Span: 0.64 m (2.09 ft). Maximum range: 11 km (7 mi). Boost Propulsion: Solid rocket. Boost engine: M2P30. Cruise Propulsion: Solid rocket. Guidance: Infrared Homing. Total Number Built: 200

I would be grateful for any further information on the missile, its development and history. It would be great to see more pictures showing it, of course.

Best regards,
Piotr
 
Some extract from Flight Archives. The last document states that "limited quantities of these weapons are now in service". But it was not true.
 

Attachments

  • 1959 - 2937.PDF
    434.4 KB · Views: 112
  • 1959 - 2938.PDF
    389.5 KB · Views: 75
  • 1960 - 2534.PDF
    409.5 KB · Views: 75
  • 1961 - 1612.PDF
    295 KB · Views: 74
  • 1962 - 2647.PDF
    1.5 MB · Views: 99
visvirtusvoluntas said:
Some extract from Flight Archives. The last document states that "limited quantities of these weapons are now in service". But it was not true.


Nice finding!!!
Many thanks
 
I should've watermarked those images smh.
Those scans didn't "appear", the community searched for infos and I bought both a magazine and a deplian about the missile.
 
Last edited:
Absolutely, Petrus should have included a link to the original source. Attribution of sources is a core forum rule.

In regards to scans of published sources, it is fair to credit the scanner/poster AND the original book or magazine.
 
Last edited:
Please accept my apologies.
It will never happen again.
Piotr
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom