Brazo

A joint development project between Hughes Aircraft and the United States Navy, the Brazo missile (named as a pun by one of the project's Navy developers, a Hispanic; "Brazo" is Spanish for "Arm", the acronym for an Anti-Radiation MissileStevenson 2001, p.18.) project was initiated in 1972, as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the utility of an air-to-air, anti-radar missile.Parsch 2003 In 1973, the United States Air Force's Pave Arm project, a program with similar goals, was merged into the Brazo program, with the Air Force assuming responsibility for testing the missile.Friedman 1982, p.179.

The first air-to-air anti-radiation missile developed by the United States,Morison and Rowe 1975, p.282. the Brazo utilised the airframe of the existing AIM-7E Sparrow air-to-air missile, fitted with a new, Hughes-built passive radar seeker head developed by the Naval Electronics Center.Fitzsimons 1978, p.425. The seeker was intended to detect and home on enemy radar emissions, such as those on interceptor and AWACS aircraft.Gunston 1977, p.96.

The first test firing of the Brazo missile was conducted in April 1974, with the missile, launched from a USAF F-4D Phantom II,International Aeronautic Federation (1974). Interavia volume 29, p.603. successfully shooting down a BQM-34 Firebee drone; four follow-up tests over the following year continued the missile's successful record, with none of the test shots failing despite difficult test conditions. However, despite the Brazo's success, the follow-on ERASE (Electro-magnetic RAdiation Source Elimination) project was cancelled,Bidwell 1978, p.165. and no air-to-air antiradiation missiles would enter service in the West.Sweetman 1987, p.160.

• {{lwc|R-27 (air-to-air missile)}}

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• {{cite book |last1=Bidewell |first1=Shelford |title=World War 3: A Military Projection Founded on Today's Facts |year=1978 |publisher=Hamlyn Publishing Group |location=London |isbn=978-0-600-39416-7}}
• {{cite book |last1=Fitzsimons |first1=Bernard |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc19fitz |url-access=registration |year=1978 |publisher=Columbia House |isbn=9780839361756 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Friedman |first1=Norman |title=U.S. Naval Weapons: Every gun, missile mine and torpedo used by the US Navy from 1883 to the present day |year=1982 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=978-0-87021-735-7}}
• {{cite book |last1=Gunston |first1=Bill |author-link=Bill Gunston |title=F-4 Phantom |year=1977 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |isbn=978-0-684-15298-1}}
• {{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel L. |author2=John S. Rowe |title=The Ships & Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet |edition=10th |year=1975 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=0-87021-639-2}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/brazo.html |title=Hughes Brazo |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2003 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=2010-12-29}}
• {{cite book |last1=Stevenson |first1=James Perry |title=The $5 Billion Misunderstanding: The Collapse of the Navy's A-12 Stealth Bomber Program |year=2001 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=978-1-55750-777-8}}
• {{cite book |last1=Sweetman |first1=Bill |author-link=Bill Sweetman |title=Advanced Fighter Technology: The Future of Cockpit Combat |year=1987 |publisher=Motorbooks International |location=Osceola, WI |isbn=978-0-87938-265-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/advancedfightert0000swee }}

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{{US missiles}}

Category:Proposed weapons of the United States

Category:Anti-radiation missiles of the United States

Category:Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States