page_title: Fireflash
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Fireflash / Development
caption_attribution_description: A Royal Air Force Supermarine Swift F.7 armed with Fairey Fireflash air-to-air missiles. The Swift probably belonged to of No. 1 Guided Weapons Development Squadron at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales (UK).
context_page_description: Fireflash was the United Kingdom's first air-to-air guided missile to see service with the Royal Air Force. Constructed by Fairey Aviation, the missile utilised radar beam riding guidance. Fireflash had relatively limited performance and required the launching aircraft to approach the target from a limited angle astern.
  The approximately 500 production Fireflash missiles were mostly expended as a training weapon to familiarize RAF pilots with missile firing. It was declared operational very briefly in 1957, thus becoming the RAF's first operational air-to-air missile, but was quickly replaced by the de Havilland Firestreak the next year.
caption: A Supermarine Swift with two Fireflash missiles (1956)
exif: {}