AN/ASG-18

Template:Short description Template:Multiple issues The AN/ASG-18 Fire Control System produced by Hughes Aircraft was a prototype airborne fire control radar system for the planned North American XF-108 Rapier interceptor aircraft, and the Lockheed YF-12 for the United States Air Force. It was the US's first Pulse-Doppler radar, giving it look-down/shoot-down capability, and was also the first track while scan radar (could track one target at a time). This was paired with an infrared search and track (IRST) system. Range of the radar was estimated at between Template:Convert, with reliable detection of bomber-sized targets at Template:Convert. The installation itself was massive, weighing Template:Convert, and taking up most of the nose of the aircraft. The system was to be used with the Hughes AIM-47 Falcon missile, which also had a range of about 100 miles.

While development work was done with the XF-108, the AN/ASG-18 and Falcon missiles were first tested on a highly modified Convair B-58 Hustler bomber. To fit the radar, the nose was lengthened nearly Template:Convert, and the infrared sensors were mounted on either side of the forward fuselage. The resulting nose shape led to it being nicknamed "Snoopy". A single missile was housed in a specially built pod underneath the fuselage.

Before the test "Snoopy" could fly, the XF-108 program was cancelled, and the proposed Lockheed YF-12 interceptor was to instead receive the radar/missile system pair. Tests of the system were conducted first in 1960 and until 1963 only on the modified B-58, after which the YF-12 took over until the cancellation of the whole program in 1966.

In accordance with the Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), the "AN/ASG-18" designation represents the 18th design of an Army-Navy airborne electronic device for special fire control equipment. The JETDS system also now is used to name all Department of Defense electronic systems.

See Also

• List of military electronics of the United States