Fins and fire — the missile family gets its real silhouettes, and the swing wing finds its voice 85c5067

The armory went back to school. Until now the air-to-air family flew as painted tubes with a red cone glued on — recognizable only by the label on the HUD. Put the reference photography on the bench and the differences are glaring: a Sidewinder is not a Sparrow is not a Phoenix. Now they aren’t.

• Every round wears its own fins. The Sidewinder gets its dark seeker dome, nose canards and the rolleron wheels on the tail tips; the Sparrow its mid-body deltas; the Phoenix its fat motor and long strake wings; the AMRAAM its clipped fins. The Soviet and shipboard rounds got the same treatment.
• Rocket fire out the back. A launched round now burns — a live exhaust flame off the nozzle and a thick white ribbon while the motor runs, then flame-out and a thin drifting trail as it coasts. Each type burns for its own motor time; a Phoenix burns like a Phoenix.
• The swing wing found its voice. The Tomcat’s gloves used to travel in silence. Press S and the hydraulics answer — steel on tracks as the wing moves between 20° and 68°.

Fox three and watch it go: fins, fire, and a proper smoke column off the rail. — HB