If someone asks, what type of air-to-surface missile is the most successful on the market? Then the direction of the answer will probably refer to Raytheon's air-to-surface missile, the AGM-65 Maverick. The reason is that since its release in 1972 and directly used in the Vietnam War, the AGM-65 with its overall variants has produced more than 70,000 units.
Not only that, because it is widely used in various types of aircraft, and operated by no less than 35 countries, 6,000 AGM-65 units have been used in warfare. One of the debuts that 'drained' Maverick's stock was the Gulf War I and II matches.
The AGM-165 was originally designed by the Hughes Aircraft Company (now Raytheon) and was first produced in 1972. Besides being effective at destroying objects in the form of bunkers, the Maverick is in fact much more popular as a tank destroyer weapon. In the First Gulf War, many Mavericks were released from the A-10 Thunderbold (tank buster) to destroy the Iraqi tank fleet.
The AGM-65A Maverick was the first variant to be launched in 1972 by order of the US Air Force. At that time the US Air Force signaled to replace conventional bombs with strict requirements that the bomb must meet the criteria of a maximum weight of 500 lbs (226 kg), can be controlled with a simple system, can be transported by existing fighter aircraft and easy to maintain. After submitting various examples, the Raytheon System Co. product was chosen, with a small, sweet missile, has four delta wings, capable of carrying a warhead weighing 57 kg and capable of being launched from an altitude of 10 to 27 kilometers.
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| A-10 Thunderbold II “The Tank Buster” – loyal user of Maverick missiles |
In trials, the AGM-65 Maverick can be launched at an astounding variety of speeds. From 200 knots to 2 Mach. It was almost impossible at that time for any surface missile to be capable of being fired at supersonic speeds. This is possible because Raytheon System Co., has equipped this missile with a rocket motor that will react in two stages, namely the 0.5 second released stage with a thrust of 10,000 lbs (4536 kg) and the launch stage for 3.5 seconds with thrust. 2,000 lbs.
The Indonesian Air Force first became acquainted with the AGM-65 Maverick when it purchased a package of 12 units of the F-16 A/B Fighting Falcon in 1990. What was adopted at that time was the AGM-65G type with infrared guidance. Besides being used by the F-16, the Indonesian Air Force also often installs the AGM-65G on Hawk 209 and Hawk 109 tactical fighter jets.
When viewed in terms of age, the Maverick AGM-65G TNI AU is now old. Instead, they chose the Maverick AGM-65K2 made by Raytheon Corporation, USA. This missile is expected to complement the remaining 10 F-16 units in the 3rd Air Squadron and 24 F-16 C/D Block 52ID units in the 16th Air Squadron.
Referring to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency – dsca.mil (22/8/2012), the AGM-65K2 missile procurement package is exactly the same as the previous package for the AGM-65G, which consists of 18 AGM-65K2 main missile units, TGM (Training Groung Missile)-65K2, a dummy missile used as training infrastructure.
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| TGM-65G Maverick |
The TGM has a similar system to the AGM-65K2, only it does not have a rocket motor, so it cannot be launched. The Indonesian Air Force obtained 36 units of TGM-65K2. Then the Indonesian Air Force got 3 units of TGM-65D MTM (Maintenance Training Missile) which were used by technicians to check the aiming system on the plane. Overall, the procurement package included in the FMS (Foreign Military Sales) program is worth US$25 million.
To be suitable for all tasks, the manufacturer deliberately created the Maverick with a modular design. As a result, with this concept the guiding device can be changed according to the wishes of the customer.
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For example, the AGM-65 A/B/H uses a TV guiding system. Then there is another AGM-65 D/F/G which has an infrared guide. With a modular design, the new generation Maverick can be upgraded to other versions, for example the AGM-65K in the US comes from the AGM-65G which has upgraded its guidance system.
If the AGM-65G relies on infrared, the AGM-65K's guiding system is a charge couple device (CCD) sensor for a 480×480 pixels TV, this is an in-camera light sensor that records images. With this guidance technology, the missile can operate on standoff after launch.
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