Brazo

• Name — Brazo • Origin — United States • Type — Anti-radiation missile • Is Missile — yes • Used By — United States Air Force; United States Navy • Design Date — 1972-1973 • Manufacturer — Hughes Aircraft • Length — 3.66 m • Diameter — 8 in • Engine — Rocketdyne Mk 38 • Vehicle Range — 16 nmi • Speed — Mach 4 • Guidance — Passive radar homing • Filling — Continuous rod • Filling Weight — 65 lb • Wingspan — 1.02 m • Propellant — Solid fuel • Launch Platform — F-4D Phantom II[7]

A joint development project between Hughes Aircraft and the United States Navy, the Brazo missile (named as a pun by one of the project's Navy developers, a Hispanic; "Brazo" is Spanish for "Arm", the acronym for an Anti-Radiation Missile) project was initiated in 1972, as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the utility of an air-to-air, anti-radar missile.[2] In 1973, the United States Air Force's Pave Arm project, a program with similar goals, was merged into the Brazo program, with the Air Force assuming responsibility for testing the missile.[3] The first air-to-air anti-radiation missile developed by the United States,[4] the Brazo utilised the airframe of the existing AIM-7E Sparrow air-to-air missile, fitted with a new, Hughes-built passive radar seeker head developed by the Naval Electronics Center.[5] The seeker was intended to detect and home on enemy radar emissions, such as those on interceptor and AWACS aircraft.[6]

The first test firing of the Brazo missile was conducted in April 1974, with the missile, launched from a USAF F-4D Phantom II, successfully shooting down a BQM-34 Firebee drone; four follow-up tests over the following year continued the missile's successful record, with none of the test shots failing despite difficult test conditions. However, despite the Brazo's success, the follow-on ERASE (Electro-magnetic RAdiation Source Elimination) project was cancelled,[8] and no air-to-air antiradiation missiles would enter service in the West.[9]