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Matra R550 Magic
Matra · Air-to-Air · France · Cold War (1970–1991)
The R.550 Magic is a short-range air-to-air missile designed in 1965 by French company Matra to compete with the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, and it was made backwards compatible with the Sidewinder launch hardware.
Specifications
- Category
- Missiles
- Sub-Category
- AAM
- Domain
- Defence
- Era
- Cold War (1970–1991)
- Country
- France
- Manufacturer
- Matra
- Operator
- France/export
- Primary Role
- Air-to-Air
- Status
- Retired
- Service Entry
- 1975
- Produced
- 8000
- Unit Cost (2026$)
- $200K
- Propulsion
- Rocket
- Engine
- Solid-fuel rocket motor
- Thrust / Power
- None (rocket)
- Launch
- Air-launched
- Length (ft)
- 8.9
- Wingspan (ft)
- 2.2
- Empty Weight (lb)
- 90
- MTOW (lb)
- 198
- Payload (lb)
- 29
- Service Ceiling (ft)
- 50000
- Range (mi)
- 6
- Max Speed (mph)
- 2301
- Max Speed (Mach)
- 3
- Armament
- Blast-fragmentation