MAA-1 Piranha

The MAA-1 Piranha is a short-range, infrared-homing air-to-air missile, the first missile of its kind developed by Brazil for its air force and navy. Development began in March 1976 at Brazil's institute of aeronautics and space, with the aim of replacing the AIM-9B Sidewinder in Brazilian service, and the work accelerated after the 1982 Falklands War, when the missile was given the name Piranha. The company first given the infrared seeker abandoned the project in 1986 after going bankrupt, and Mectron ultimately developed the weapon system in the 1990s. The missile reached some operational capability in September 1992 and is generally taken to have reached initial operational capability in 1993. It uses a passive infrared seeker similar to that of the AIM-9L, a solid-fuel rocket motor that can accelerate it to about Mach 2, proportional navigation with canard steering, and a laser proximity fuze for its high-explosive blast fragmentation warhead. It is rated to turn at up to 50 g, is fire and forget, and can be fired by aircraft such as the F-5E Tiger II, the AMX attack aircraft and the A-29 Super Tucano. Besides Brazil, it is operated by Colombia, Ecuador and Pakistan, and an improved MAA-1B variant with a dual-band seeker was under development.