Америкалық жер-әуе зымыран жүйесінің даму тарихы

American air to surface missile

Development began in 1966 at Hughes Aircraft Company as the first missile to use an electronic contrast seeker. It entered service with the United States Air Force in August 1972. Since then, it has been exported to more than 30 countries and is certified on 25 aircraft. The Maverick served during the Vietnam, Yom Kippur, Iran–Iraq, and Persian Gulf Wars, along with other smaller conflicts, destroying enemy forces and installations with varying degrees of success. Since its introduction into service, numerous Maverick versions had been designed and produced using electro optical, laser, and imaging infrared guidance systems. The AGM 65 has two types of warhead: one has a contact fuze in the nose, the other has a heavyweight warhead fitted with a delayed action fuze, which penetrates the target with its kinetic energy before detonating. The missile is currently produced by Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The Maverick shares the same configuration as Hughes' AIM 4 Falcon and AIM 54 Phoenix, and measures more than 8 feet (2 m) in length and in diameter.

The Maverick's development history began in 1965, when the United States Air Force (USAF) began a program to develop a replacement to the AGM 12 Bullpup. With a range of , the radio guided Bullpup was introduced in 1959 and was considered a "silver bullet" by operators. However, the launch aircraft was required to fly straight towards the target during the missile's flight instead of performing evasive maneuvers, thus endangering itself. The USAF began a series of projects to replace Bullpup, both larger versions of Bullpup, models C and D, as well as a series of Bullpup adaptations offering fire and forget guidance. Among the latter were the AGM 83 Bulldog, AGM 79 Blue Eye and AGM 80 Viper. From 1966 to 1968, Hughes Missile Systems Division and Rockwell competed for the contract to build an entirely new fire and forget missile with far greater range performance than any of the Bullpup versions. Each were allocated $3 million for preliminary design and engineering work of the Maverick in 1966. with the first guided test on 18 December successfully performing a direct hit on a M41 tank target at the Air Force Missile Development Center at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. As such, development of the AGM 65B "Scene Magnified" version began in 1975 before it was delivered during the late 1970s. When production of the AGM 65A/B was ended in 1978, more than 35,000 missiles had been built. Another study called "Longhorn Project" The proposal was abandoned, but if the Maverick ER had entered production, it would have replaced the AGM 119B Penguin carried on the MH 60R. To boresight, a certain reference point on the ground is locked by the targeting pod, known as the Sensor Point of Interest (SPI). The Maverick missile's seeker head is then adjusted to correct small offsets, so that it points at the same SPI as the targeting pod. This allows for simpler target acquisition and deployment.

The Maverick was declared operational on 30 August 1972 with the F 4D/Es and A 7s initially cleared for the type; the missile made its combat debut four months later with the USAF in Operation Linebacker II, the last major USAF operation of the Vietnam War. During the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, the Israelis used Mavericks to destroy and disable enemy vehicles

The Maverick was used for trials with the BGM 34A unmanned aerial vehicle in 1972–1973. Targeting could be carried out with a TV camera in the nose of the UAV or using the seeker of an AGM 45 Shrike anti radar missile also carried by the UAV to locate the target for the Maverick's camera to lock on to. In June 1975, during a border confrontation, a formation of Iranian F 4E Phantoms destroyed a group of Iraqi tanks by firing 12 Mavericks at them. Five years later, during Operation Morvarid as part of the Iran–Iraq War, Iranian F 4s used Mavericks to sink three Osa II missile boats and four P 6 combat ships. Due to weapons embargoes, Iran had to equip its AH 1J SeaCobra helicopters with AGM 65 Maverick missiles and used them with some success in various operations such as Operation Fath ol Mobin wherein Iranian AH 1Js fired 11 Mavericks. In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. In early 1991, the US led Coalition executed Operation Desert Storm during which Mavericks played a crucial role in the ousting of Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Employed by F 15E Strike Eagles, F/A 18 Hornets, AV 8B Harriers, F 16 Fighting Falcons and A 10 Thunderbolt IIs, but used mainly by the last two, more than 5,000 Mavericks were used to attack armored targets. The most used variant by the USAF was the IIR guided AGM 65D.