The dimensions of the missiles are pretty well known so the thrust, burn times and top speeds will give an idea of the comparative performance of various missiles.
What we don't have is:
a) Drag coefficient (which, depending on the source you read, can be dependent on either the Mach number OR both the Mach number and the Reynolds Number).
b) Altitude at which the range is calculated (drag = drag coefficient x dynamic pressure x Cd reference area, and dynamic pressure is linearly dependent on density, which is an exponential function of altitude).
c) Specific impulse of the rocket fuel, and quantity burned.
d) Thrust-time curve.
Range under power = velocity x Isp x sustainer charge weight/drag (for a boost-sustain missile).
Range under coast is much more complicated, because you have to iteratively recalculate Cd for the current mach number as you slow down.
The designers of Red Top chose a hemispherical nose for whatever reason despite the fact that it has a higher drag coefficient than any cone or ogive (Firestreak was better in this regard), so Red Top (which IIRC is a boost-glide missile) is going to suffer badly once it's burned its fuel (and by the way, rocket thrust should be HIGHER at higher altitude).
AIM-7E follows the burn time stated with a sustain burn of several more seconds (per Tactical Missile Design, G Fleeman).
R.530 does sound like an error. Thrust = Isp x charge weight/burn time, and if you have a long enough motor with enough burn surface area and a fast enough propellant in terms of linear burn rate, you can turn out some really fantastic numbers. That being said, the printed examples I've seen in literature which give that much thrust are large tandem boosters for surface-air missiles which weigh more than the R.530 does at launch.
Even trying to reverse-engineer the drag coefficient from the burnout velocity can be difficult, because the equations that calculate burnout velocity do so as a CHANGE in velocity over that of the launch platform, and while the first approximation equation doesn't depend on the drag, the more refined one most definitely does. The correction factor is (1- [(average drag)/thrust]), with an iteration to get the hypothetical zero-drag burnout velocity for the high value and the speed of the launch aircraft to get the low value.
I think it's time to start a topic to discuss what a missile's performance figures (as published in Mr Average Bill Gunston book of the 1980s) actually mean.
@overscan (PaulMM) , where do you think is the best place to put it?
