RIM-101

{{For|the USAF weapon designated AIM-101|AIM-7 Sparrow}}

{{infobox weapon

| name = RIM-101A

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| origin = United States

| type = Surface-to-air missile

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| used_by = United States Navy

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| design_date = 1973

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| guidance = Midcouse: semi-active radar homing
Terminal: infrared homing

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RIM-101 was a short-lived project by the United States Navy to develop a surface-to-air missile (SAM) for the defense of naval vessels. Developed during the early 1970s, the project, possibly derived from the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, was cancelled before the start of detailed design work.

Development and cancellation

In the early 1970s, the United States Navy initiated a project for the development of a new surface-to-air missile to act as a defense against air and missile attack against its vessels. The project received the planning designation ZRIM-101A in 1973.Parsch 2002Morison and Rowe 1975, p.216.Andrade 1979, p.235.

The RIM-101 missile was planned to be a tube-launched weapon, a small ejector charge being used to propel the missile from its launching tube before ignition of a solid-fueled rocket sustainer, based on that of the FIM-43 Redeye SAM. Midcourse guidance of the new missile was planned to be of the semi-active radar homing type, using an I-band radar system, while terminal guidance would be provided by an infrared seeker. However, the RIM-101 project was cancelled early in the design-and-development stage, before any hardware had been built.

It has been speculated that the RIM-101 was intended to be an advanced development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile, then in U.S. Navy service as the Basic Point Defense Missile System. While the basic RIM-7 does not match the description of RIM-101, an advanced development of the RIM-7E would fit the timeframe and description, with RIM-7F being developed following the cancellation of RIM-101.Parsch 2007

References

=Notes=

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=Bibliography=

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  • {{cite book |last1=Andrade |first1=John |title=U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909 |year=1979 |publisher=Midland Counties Publications |location=Leicester, UK |isbn=0-904597-22-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KMgAAAAMAAJ&q=RGM-59 |access-date=2011-01-26}}
  • {{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/m-101.html |title=RIM-101 |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2002 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=2011-01-26}}
  • {{cite web |url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-7.html |title=Raytheon AIM/RIM-7 Sparrow |first=Andreas |last=Parsch |year=2007 |work=Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles |publisher=designation-systems.net |access-date=2011-01-26}}

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