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How the AIM-9 Sidewinder changed Air Combat
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A group of engineers at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, led by William McLean, created the first Sidewinder in 1954. Early tests proved astonishingly successful. Cheap, compact, and deadly, the Sidewinder can be fired by a pilot with almost no guidance — once launched, it hunts on its own. It was first employed in the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1958. Listen to The War Office Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or The War Office Podcast YouTube Channel.
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In 1946, a group of engineers at the
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake,
led by William McLean, attempts to find
an answer to this question.
Without any official government funding,
McLean and his small group of engineers,
working on their own time, successfully
completed the first Sidewinder in 1954.
Early tests prove astonishingly
successful.
Cheap, compact, and deadly, the
Sidewinder can be fired by a pilot with
almost no guidance. Once launched, it
hunts on its own.