Jaguar and sidewinders

Thank you!

Be very careful with the SAM "Things Under Wings" articles - they are not nearly as accurate as they could be. In one article there is a picture of a CBLS practice bomb carrier which is captioned as an "LOS123 pod". Each item of role equipment has a station monogram painted on it. This CBLS was on charge at LOSsiemouth... ;-)

At a guess, they are to show that the weapon is a dummy and the warnings in the tiragnles don't count?

If you look at the 'live' round on the Vulcan carrier you can see they have the triagnles, but not the crosses.

Don't reply to the btconnect address - and remove nospam!!

The GCS used by the RAF has a "Gas Grain Generator" to provide high pressure gas which will power the fin actuators.

From what I remember, the RAF system was identical to the US Navy system. The USAF uses an argon bottle in the head, which explains the lack of a brown hazard band.

The orange band is not intended to indicate radioactive materials, but to indicate an "environmental hazard".

This store carried impulse cartridges to initiate the detonators. The cartridges were very similar to those used in the Ejector Release Units to ensure that a store seperated cleanly from the aircraft.

The red triangles indicated that the carts were fitted, in a similar way that red triangles underneath a cockpit canopy indicate a live ejection seat. The white crosses indicate that the carts have been physically removed.

Many many thanx to ya all for posting all the info ya have !!!!!!!

Now.... anyone here want to go into this kind of detail on the AIM 120's ? I'd sure love to read/hear it. I took a lot of pic's of the one on display at the new Air & Space museum at Dulles, but there are no explinations with it.

Also the people there do not know anything about the weapon (s) they have on display......... (I had to correct a docent who was telling people the AR 234 on display had afterburning engines, and an ejection seat !!!!!!)

I just eat it thank you. Extra sharp cheddar if ya don't mind.......

Allan

My thanks added as well...and as Enzo points out - the more pictures you look at, the more informed you'll be.

Cassagrain Generator, I think it's called...yes - it is handled as an explosive.

Not aware of any argon in the USAF head, which I believe is identical to the USN L/M. Nitrogen bottles in the launcher.

Ah... a man of taste and refinement! :-)

Definitely "Gas Grain Generator".

The nitrogen is used to cool the seeker head while the missile is in captive flight. The coolant is switched on just before target acquisition is attempted. The bottle is known as a "nitrogen receiver". If the USAF missiles do not use a GGG then they must have some other method of producing high pressure gas. As far as I am aware it is by use of a compressed argon bottle, but I admit to being not as familiar with it as I am with the UK system.

"Enzo Matrix" wrote

That's a new one on me. Is that a NATO standard? I don't think the US uses it. What would come under such a designation? Heck, a full fuel tank dropped on the pavement would probably split and cause a HAZMAT situation, let alone the known toxicity problems with high explosives, starter fluids, hydraulic fluids, insulation, chromium plating, etc., etc. The whole plane ought to be orange.

Yes. AKA Solid Propellant Gas Generator (SPGG). I used to make these for, among other things, the binary nerve agent warhead for MLRS rockets. Anyhoo, these are essentially chunks of solid rocket fuel inside of bottles, with a pipe going somewhere rather than an exhaust nozzle.

Thanks for the good info.

KL

Effectively nothing that the RAF has uses an orange band these days. Apart from the WE177, the last airborne store that I can think of with an orange band was the Lepus flare. It was filled with WP and carried a red band for incendiary and an orange band for environmental hazard. The last flares of that type that I saw were in 1983 being packed off to the armament depot at Chilmark for disposal.

Been there! Done that! :-)