The Brazo (/ˈbrɑːsoʊ/) missile was an American project of the 1970s, intended to produce an anti-radiation missile for air-to-air use. Developed by Hughes Aircraft and based on the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile, the Brazo underwent a series of successful test firings; however, the program was terminated at the end of its test program.
A joint development project between Hughes Aircraft and the United States Navy,[1] 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[2]) project was initiated in 1972, as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the utility of an air-to-air, anti-radar missile.[1] 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,[7] 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[1] despite difficult test conditions.[3] 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]