Editing AIM-54 Phoenix (section)

==Development==

===Background===
Since 1951, the Navy faced the initial threat from the [[Tupolev Tu-4|Tupolev Tu-4K 'Bull']] carrying<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=V-1 Flying Bomb, 1942–52: Hitler's Infamous "Doodlebug"|author1=Zaloga, S.J.|author2=Laurier, J.|date=2005|publisher=Osprey Publishing, Limited |isbn=9781841767918 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kGyc0NZEe_QC|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref> [[anti-ship missile]]s or nuclear bombs.

Eventually, during the height of the Cold War, the threat would have expanded into regimental-size raids of [[Tu-16 Badger]] and [[Tu-22M Backfire]] bombers equipped with low-flying, long-range, high-speed, nuclear-armed cruise missiles and considerable [[electronic countermeasures]] (ECM) of various types. This combination was considered capable of saturating fleet defenses and threatening carrier groups.

The Navy would require a long-range, long-endurance [[interceptor aircraft]] to defend [[carrier battle group]]s against this threat. The proposed [[Douglas F6D Missileer]] was intended to fulfill this mission and oppose the attack as far as possible from the fleet it was defending. The weapon needed for interceptor aircraft, the Bendix [[AAM-N-10 Eagle]], was to be an air-to-air missile of unprecedented range when compared to contemporary [[AIM-7 Sparrow]] missiles. It would work together with [[Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems|Westinghouse]] AN/APQ-81 radar. The Missileer project was cancelled in December 1960.

===AIM-54===
[[File:AIM-54A first test A-3A NAN11-66.jpg|thumb|left|An AIM-54A launched from the [[Douglas A-3 Skywarrior|NA-3A]]-testbed in 1966]]

In the early 1960s, the U.S. Navy made the next interceptor attempt with the [[General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B|F-111B]], and they needed a new missile design. At the same time, the [[USAF]] canceled the projects for their land-based high-speed interceptor aircraft, the [[North American XF-108 Rapier]] and the [[Lockheed YF-12]], and left the capable [[AIM-47 Falcon]] missile at a quite advanced stage of development, but with no effective launch platform.

The AIM-54 Phoenix, developed for the F-111B fleet air defense fighter, had an airframe with four cruciform fins that was a scaled-up version of the AIM-47. One characteristic of the Missileer ancestry was that the radar sent it [[mid-course correction]]s, which allowed the fire control system to "[[Missile lofting|loft]]" the missile up over the target into thinner air where it had better range.

The F-111B was canceled in 1968. Its weapons system, the AIM-54 working with the [[AWG-9 radar]], migrated to the new U.S. Navy fighter project, the VFX, which would later become the [[F-14|F-14 Tomcat]].<ref>{{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Aviation |first=David W. |last=Wragg |isbn=9780850451634 |edition=first |publisher=Osprey |year=1973 |page=212}}</ref>

The AIM-54 Phoenix was also considered by the Royal Air Force to be used on [[Avro Vulcan]] bomber planes as part of an air defence aircraft. This missileer conversion would have used 12 missiles onboard and an extensive modification to the Vulcan's radar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/meet-britain%E2%80%99s-bomber-killing-bomber-wasnt-meant-be-193904|title = The National Interest: Blog}}</ref>

In 1977, development of a significantly improved Phoenix version, the AIM-54C, was developed to better counter projected threats from tactical anti-naval aircraft and cruise missiles, and its final upgrade included a re-programmable memory capability to keep pace with emerging ECM.<ref name="designation-systems">{{cite web|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-54.html|title=Raytheon AIM-54 Phoenix|publisher=designation-systems.net|access-date=3 October 2014}}</ref>