. I am looking for Sidewinder info. I am working on a model of a JASDF F-86F, circa 1970-74. Photos of JASDF aircraft with weapons, even training ones , seem as scarce as Muslim Swineherds. I have found on photo of an F-86 with winders (AIM-9B training rounds) and , maybe a handful of ones with rails. I have seen info that the JASDF used Aim-9 B, H, P . (Ls too, but not pertinent to this inquiry.) Have seen a couple photos of Ps carried by F-104s and F-4s. Questions are, (1) Would the later versions be compatible with the rails for the 9B? (2) What time frames were the various versions in service with the JASDF? I’m trying to figure out if the QRA aircraft in th 70-74 time frame would have carried old 9Bs or 9Hs. (#3) Would the “modern” 'Winders been reserved for the 104/F-4s? TIA.
Part of your answer depends upon the specific year. The AIM-9J, the basis on which the AIM-9P was developed from, was first fielded in the second half of 1972, doing its’ first field combat tests around September of that year. I am not as familiar as to when the AIM-9H was first fielded, but did the JASDF use that variant? Did they use both the USAF developed versions, AIM-9E, AIM-9J/P, as well as the USN developed AIM-9D/G/H versions?
Edit- the AIM-9B/E/J required use of a different launcher than the AIM-9D/G/H family. Interservice non compatibility…
Rail difference was more than interservice pissing contest. One of the rails had a nitrogen source in it to cool the IR seeker. Forget if that was USAF or Navy. Other one, the nitrogen for the seeker was in the missile. As for the G/H , mia culpa. I brain farted. Was the E. Only seen one reference to it. The P was an upgraded J, though I thought I read the P was a down graded "export’ version. Time frame I’m looking at is early/ mid 70s … aircraft to have 10th Sqn markings and they were disbanded in 77. Guess that rules out the J/P seeing they did not enter service till about 76-77. So, looks like Bs (which had no cooling) or E (If JASDF even used them. And they did not use Nitrogen for cooling. ) . Again , that is if the Es were not reserved for 104s/ 4s.
No I get that it was more than inter service rivalry on the rail launchers. But each service went down a different path after the common AIM-9B. The USAF developed the E & J models, while the Navy developed the C, D, G, & H models. It was the Navy versions that had the coolant bottle in the launch rail, while the USAF had the coolant inside the missile itself. Each service also used a different type of coolant for the seeker heads. It wasn’t until the L that both services started using a common variant again. Although the USAF did upgrade their remaining Js into Ns & Ps with similar capabilities to the L. I haven’t seen any photos of foreign customers using Es, so more than likely Japan like many other foreign users went from the B to the J.