Selenia Aspide
Aspide, named for the asp, is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia and its successors, Alenia Aeronautica and MBDA that was developed in the 1970s to replace license built AIM-7 Sparrows then in use on Italian Air Force F-104S Starfighter interceptors. It is similar in appearance to the Sparrow, with original versions sharing an airframe with the type and all using a similar semi-active radar homing seeker. This similarity in appearance combined with Selenia's license production of Sparrows has led to non-Italian press frequently referring to the mi
Key facts
- Weapon.name
- Aspide
- Weapon.image
- 300px
- Weapon.type
- Medium range Surface to air missile/ Air to air missile
- Weapon.diameter
- Aspide Mk. 1: Aspide 2000:
- Weapon.origin
- Italy
- Weapon.is_missile
- Yes
- Weapon.weight
- Aspide Mk. 1: Aspide 2000:
- Weapon.is_ranged
- Yes
- Weapon.range
- Aspide Mk. 1: for surface to air for air to air Aspide 2000: > for surface to air
- Weapon.speed
- Mach 5
- Weapon.wingspan
- Surface to air: Air to air:
- Weapon.production_date
- 1973-present
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Design
- Variants
- Systems
- Operators
- Current operators
- Former operators
- References
- External links
Aspide, named for the asp, is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia and its successors, Alenia Aeronautica and MBDA that was developed in the 1970s to replace license built AIM-7 Sparrows then in use on Italian Air Force F-104S Starfighter interceptors. It is similar in appearance to the Sparrow, with original versions sharing an airframe with the type and all using a similar semi-active radar homing seeker. This similarity in appearance combined with Selenia's license production of Sparrows has led to non-Italian press frequently referring to the missile as a Sparrow variant.
Compared to Sparrow, Aspide features an inverse monopulse seeker that is far more accurate and much less susceptible to ECM than the original continuous-wave version. Aspide also features new electronics, a new warhead, and a new, more powerful engine. Closed-loop hydraulics were also substituted for Sparrow's open-loop type, which gave Aspide better downrange maneuverability. Surface to air versions of the missile further altered this, replacing the original triangular wings with a newly designed cropped delta version in order to reduce the size of launch canisters.