Location: National Cold War Exhibition

Development of the Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missile, (AAM), began in 1949 with the formation of a team led by Dr McLean in China Lake USA. The team aimed …

The Sparrow Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) began as Project Hot-Shot in 1946 under contract from the US Navy. However, full engineering development of Sparrow I did not start …

Started privately by AV Roe in 1954, a contract was eventually placed by the Ministry of Supply in 1956 for a stand-off missile to carry a Thermonuclear …

The Red Top Air-to-Air Missile was originally called Firestreak IV. However, it so radically improved Firestreak’s capabilities, that a new name was more appropriate. The requirement for …

This Australian anti-tank missile was developed in 1951, following up on German wartime research especially in wire-guidance. The Australian Government supported the development with assistance from the …

In 1955 the USAF started to develop an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM). The project, designated 315A, was given top priority. In December 1955, the Douglas Aircraft …

In 1958 several US contractors demonstrated to the USAF that large ballistic vehicles could be launched from strategic bombers at high altitude. The contractors argued that this …

The Martel AS37 air-to-surface missile is an anti-radar missile produced jointly by Britain and France. The solid-fuelled rocket, made by Engins Matra, uses aerodynamic control to home …

This Air-to-Surface Missile uses a semi-active radar homing guidance system and its first application was aboard the Lynx helicopter using the Ferranti Seaspray radar illuminator. The Lynx …

Based on a 1964 development programme, Rapier entered service with the British Army and RAF Regiment in June 1967. Rapier is a Hitile, so called because it …

This Seersucker missile was recovered from Umm Qasar in Southern Iraq by RAF officers after the Gulf War. A missile of this type was fired at Royal …

As a result of the Vietnam War, which highlighted the need for positive visual identification of targets before missile launch, a new need for a Short Range …

The development of the Bloodhound Mk2 surface-to-air missile (SAM) began in 1958, with the aim of improving the performance of the already successful Mk1 version. The development …

Swingfire is an anti-tank missile which owes its development to the Vigilant and Orange William projects. It was in 1960 that Swingfire was produced using Thrust Vectored …

During World War II, a British SAM programme was established with the system known as Brankemine. Although the missile programme was inadequately funded, the first test firing …