The AIM-7F joined the Air Force inventory in 1976 as the main medium-range, air-to-air missile for the F-15 Eagle.
The AIM-7M, the only current prepared version, entered service in 1982. It has better reliability and performance over earlier models at low altitudes and in electronic countermeasures environments. It also has a significantly more lethal missile. The newest software account of the AIM-7M is the H-Build that has been produced since 1987 and incorporates additional improvements in guidance. The F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters carry the AIM-7M Sparrow. U.S. and NATO navies operate a surface-to-air/surface version of this missile called the RIM-7F/M Sea Sparrow.
In the Persian Gulf War, the radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow proved to be a potent air-to-air weapon used by Air Force fighter pilots. Twenty-two Iraqi fixed-wing aircraft and three Iraqi helicopters were downed by radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow missiles.
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