Missile Red Top

The Red Top was the third indigenous British air-to-air missile to enter service, succeeding the Firestreak and Fireflash. Developed from the "Blue Vesta" project initiated to counter supersonic bombers, the missile program was designated Red Top in November 1957. The design aimed to provide a head-on, all-aspect interception capability. Flight testing began with aerodynamic test vehicles in 1959, followed by guidance trials from a Canberra in 1960, and launches from a Lightning in 1961. The missile entered service in 1964.

The missile utilized infrared homing guided by an indium antimonide seeker. This seeker allowed head-on engagements against supersonic targets heated by skin friction, though subsonic targets required a tail-aspect approach. The seeker featured an expanded field of view compared to its predecessor. Red Top transitioned from vacuum-tube electronics to transistorized systems, eliminating the need for an aircraft-mounted ammonia cooling system and utilizing highly filtered air instead.

The internal layout featured a straightened fuselage. The warhead was moved forward, allowing the control actuators and their powering air bottle to be positioned directly at the rear fins. This rearrangement allowed for a larger rocket motor. The missile carried an expanding-rod warhead, which was larger than the blast-fragmentation warhead of the Firestreak. It utilized an infrared proximity fuse with rectangular windows. Due to its infrared guidance system, the missile could only be launched outside of cloud cover.

The Red Top was operated by the United Kingdom (Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm), Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. In British service, it was deployed on the Sea Vixen and the Lightning. Carrying the missile on the Lightning required modifications to the aircraft's vertical stabilizer to maintain stability at high speeds; consequently, older Lightning models continued to carry the Firestreak. The Red Top remained in service until 1988, when it was retired alongside the remaining Lightning fleet. It was also evaluated but rejected for use on the Phantom due to integration costs and weight considerations.