View source for R.530

{{Infobox weapon
|is_missile=yes
|name=Matra R.530
| image= Matra R530 missile-001.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=An R530 exhibited at the [[South African Air Force Museum]], Swartkop
|origin=France
|type=Short-range air-to-air missile
|used_by=
|manufacturer=[[Matra]]
|unit_cost=
|propellant=
|production_date=
|service=1962<ref name="SAAFA">{{cite web |url=http://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/weapons/56/r-530-missile |title=R.530 Missile |accessdate=2008-08-04 |publisher=South African Air Force Association|date= }}</ref>
|engine=Two-stage solid rocket,<ref name="SAAFA"/> Hotchkiss-Brandt/SNPE Antoinette rocket<ref name="Aéreos Modernos"/>
|engine_power=83.3 kN for 2.7 s + 6.5 s cruise<ref name="Aéreos Modernos">Misiles Aéreos Modernos (Editorial San Martín)</ref>
|weight=192 kg<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|filling_weight=27.2 kg<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|length=3.28 m<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|height=
|diameter=263 mm<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|wingspan=1.1 m<ref name="Aéreos Modernos"/>
|speed=Mach 2.7<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|vehicle_range=1.5 to 20 km<ref name="SAAFA"/>
|ceiling=
|altitude=
|filling=
|guidance=[[Semi active radar homing]] and [[infrared homing]]<ref name="Roberts">{{cite web|url=http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Matra+R530&offset=0|title=Matra R530|accessdate=2008-08-04|publisher=Speedy look|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606042314/http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Matra+R530&offset=0|archivedate=2008-06-06}}</ref>
|detonation=
|launch_platform=[[Dassault Mirage F1]]<br/>[[Dassault Mirage III]]<ref name="SAAFA"/><br/>[[F-8 Crusader#French Navy|F-8 Crusader]]}} 

The [[Matra]] '''R.530''' is a French medium to short range [[air-to-air missile]].
It was available in [[infrared homing]] and [[semi active radar homing]] as the main armament of the [[Mirage III]] which was able to carry a single missile in the centerline, the [[Mirage F1]], which carried up to three, utilizing wing hardpoints, and the [[F-8 Crusader#French Navy|F-8 Crusader]], also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.

==Operational history==
The Israeli [[Israeli Air Force|Heyl Ha'Avir]] (IDF/AF) purchased 15 semi-active radar-homing R.530 missiles from France, along with three training rounds and eight launch pylons, to go with the new Mirage IIICJ "Shahak". It was intended to complement the domestic [[Rafael Advanced Defense Systems|Rafael]] [[Python (missile)|Shafrir]] infrared-homing air-to-air missile.  The missile was christened "Yahalom" (Hebrew for "diamond") in Israeli service and was issued to the No. 110 and No. 117 squadrons for their [[Quick Reaction Alert|quick reaction alert]] (QRA) aircraft. Both squadrons achieved weapons qualification in 1964.<ref name="Aloni pp. 74">Aloni, Shlomo. ''Duel 28: Mirage III vs. MiG-21''. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-84603-947-8}}.</ref>

On 29 November 1966, an Israeli Air Force [[Dassault Mirage III]] shot down two Egyptian [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19|MiG-19s]] which were trying to intercept an Israeli reconnaissance [[Piper J-3 Cub]] in Israeli airspace. The first MiG was destroyed with an R.530 fired from less than a mile away, marking the first aerial kill for the missile. The second MiG-19 was destroyed with cannon fire.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1966/11/30/archive/israeli-pilot-shoots-down-two-egyptian-soviet-made-mig-jets|title = Israeli Pilot Shoots Down Two Egyptian Soviet-made Mig Jets|date = 30 November 1966}}</ref>

During the [[Six-Day War]], the R.530, as was common for early air-to-air missiles in the 1960s, proved to be chronically unreliable and difficult to use, especially in the close-range dogfights that characterized aerial combat in the war. The R.530 required a radar lock from the Cyrano radar of the Mirage III in order to be launched, but the Cyrano radar was severely hampered by ground clutter at low altitude, where most air combat took place during the Six-Day War, rendering the R.530 nearly useless. The weapon failed to achieve any kills during the Six-Day War.<ref name="Aloni pp. 74"/>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:R.530-21.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-19.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-20.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-29.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-25.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-23.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-24.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530-30.jpg|Matra R.530 missile
File:R.530 operators.png|Map with former R.530 operators in red
File:Dassault Mirage IIIC, France - Air Force AN0695826.jpg|Mirage IIIC of [[Escadron de Chasse 2/10 Seine]] in 1980 armed with a Matra R.530
File:Two French air force Dassault Mirage F1C aircraft.jpg|Mirage F1s of [[Escadron de Chasse 2/30 Normandie-Niemen]] and [[Escadron de Chasse 3/30 Lorraine]] in 1986 armed with Matra R.530s
</gallery>

==Former operators==
;{{ARG}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=242}}</ref>
;{{AUS}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=71}}</ref>
;{{BRA}}<ref>{{Cite news |title=On target! A brief history of the MAA-1 Piranha |url=https://online.fliphtml5.com/soips/cfmo/#p=12 |last=Moralez |first=Joao Paulo |pages=13 |work=Revista Pucará |issue=23}}</ref>
;{{FRA}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|pages=362-363}}</ref>
;{{flaglist|Israel}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=24}}</ref>
;{{JOR}}
;{{flag|Lebanon}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=140}}</ref>
;{{flag|Libya|1977}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |last2=Grandolini |first2=Albert |last3=Delalande |first3=Arnaud |title=Libyan Air Wars, Part 3: 1986-1989 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-910294-54-3 |page=37}}</ref>
;{{flag|Morocco}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Tom |last2=Grandolini |first2=Albert |last3=Fontanellaz |first3=Adrien |title=Showdown in Western Sahara, Volume 2: Air Warfare Over the Last African Colony, 1975-1991 |date=2019 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |location=Warwick, UK |isbn=978-1-912866-29-8 |page=20}}</ref>
;{{PAK}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=155}}</ref>
;{{RSA}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fontanellaz |first1=Adrien |last2=Cooper |first2=Tom |last3=Matos |first3=Jose Augusto |title=War of Intervention in Angola, Volume 4: Angolan and Cuban Air Forces, 1985-1987 |date=2021 |publisher=Helion & Company Publishing |location=Warwick, UK |isbn=978-1-914059-25-4 |page=64}}</ref>
;{{ESP}}<ref>{{harvnb|Chenel|Liébert|Moreau|2014|page=216}}</ref>
;{{VEN}}
;{{QAT}}

== See also ==
'''Related development:'''
* [[Super 530]]
'''Similar weapons'''
* [[AIM-4 Falcon]]
* [[AIM-26 Falcon]]
* [[AIM-7 Sparrow]] (initial variants)
* [[K-8 (missile)]]

==References==
;Citations
{{reflist}}
;Bibliography
* {{cite book |last1=Chenel |first1=Bernard |last2=Liébert |first2=Michel |last3=Moreau |first3=Eric |title=Mirage III/5/50 en service à l'étranger |date=2014 |publisher=Editions LELA Presse |location=Le Vigen, France |isbn=978-2-914017-76-3}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matra Super 530}}
[[Category:Air-to-air missiles of France|R.530]]
[[Category:Matra|R.530]]
[[Category:Military equipment introduced in the 1960s]]