Matra R.530

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 two under the wings, and the F-8 Crusader, also carrying two on the sides of the fuselage in French Navy service.

On 29 November 1966, an Israeli Air Force Dassault Mirage III shot down two Egyptian 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.

Country: France

In service: 1962—

Type: short-range air-to-air missile

Length: 3.28 m

Wingspan: 1.1 m

Diameter: 263 mm

Engine: two-stage solid rocket

Maximum speed: 3,240 km/h (Mach 2.7)

Range: 20 km

Mass: 192 kg

Bourget Museum (Paris, France)

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