Original vintage 1980s advertisement for the Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation, and a mix of its defensive weapons systems, to include the legendary AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system (if you’ve watched “Top Gun,” you’ve definetely seen it in action), the M48 Chaparral surface-to-air (SAM) missile system, and a slew of others.
 
“We’re a leading producer of defense systems.  We’re Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation.  Our capacity to build and continually upgrade effective high performance defense systems is well demonstrated by the worldwide deployment of our military products by the U.S. and its allies.”
 
Dimensions: Approximately 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
 
The AIM-9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air Missile System
The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a supersonic, heat-seeking air-to-air missile with a high-explosive warhead and a rocket motor, which uses an infrared (IR) guidance system to home in on the heat from a target aircraft's engine exhaust, allowing pilots to launch the missile and then take evasive action.
 
Originally developed by the U.S. Navy and first used in 1956, the Sidewinder is still in active service and has been continuously upgraded, with modern versions like the AIM-9X capable of "all-aspect" targeting. The Soviet K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll"), a reverse-engineered copy of the AIM-9B, was also widely adopted.
 
The Sidewinder is the most widely used air-to-air missile in the West, with more than 110,000 missiles produced for the U.S. and 27 other nations, of which perhaps one percent have been used in combat. It has been built under license by Sweden and other nations. The AIM-9 has an estimated 270 aircraft kills.
 
Combat Debut: Taiwan Strait, 1958
The first combat use of the Sidewinder came on 24 September 1958 by the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force (ROCAF) during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. At the time, ROCAF North American F-86 Sabres were routinely engaged in air battles with the People's Republic of China over the Taiwan Strait. In similar fashion to Korean War encounters between the F-86 and earlier MiG-15, high-flying PRC MiG-17s cruised above the ROC Sabres, immune to their .50-cal guns and only fighting when conditions favored them.
 
In a highly secret effort, the United States provided a few dozen Sidewinders to ROC forces and an Aviation Ordnance Team from the U.S. Marine Corps to modify their aircraft to carry the Sidewinder. In the first encounter on 24 September 1958, ROCAF pilots used the Sidewinders to ambush the MiG-17s as they flew past. This action marked the first successful use of air-to-air missiles in combat, the downed MiGs being the first casualties.
 
Recent Uses: 2023 North American Balloon & Unidentified Object Shootdowns
On 4 February 2023, an F-22 Raptor operated by the United States Air Force used a single AIM-9X missile to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina at an altitude between 60,000 to 65,000 feet (18,000 to 20,000 m). Six days later, another object was shot down near Alaska. On 11 and 12 February two more objects were shot down, over Yukon, Canada and Lake Huron in Michigan respectively.
 
Russian Invasion of Ukraine
On 3 May 2025, the head of the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), lieutenant general Kyrylo Budanov claimed that three MAGURA V7 naval drones armed with AIM-9 Sidewinders modified for surface-to-air operation shot down two Russian Su-30 fighter jets in the Black Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment, but Russian sources report that the pilots of one fighter were rescued by a cargo ship, whose crew received an award.
 
On September 18, 2025, during a massive missile-drone attack, a video surfaced on social networks showing an F-16 of the Ukrainian Air Force shooting down a Russian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone with an AIM-9L missile.
 
M48 Chaparral Surface-to-Air Missile System 
The M48 Chaparral is a self-propelled SAM system based on the M113 family of vehicles, and the ground-launched system is based on the AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile system.  The M48 entered service with the United States Army in 1969 and was phased out as the M48A2 between 1990 and 1998.  It was intended to be used along with the M163 VADS, the Vulcan ADS covering short-range short-time engagements, and the Chaparral for longer range use.
 
A mobile light air defense system with a turret mounted on a tracked vehicle carrying four ready-to-fire missiles, the M48 is the Army's standard, short range, low altitude air defense system which provides point defense of vital corps areas against direct air attack.  It homes in on the heat given off by the target aircraft's engine exhaust.
 
Designed to be used against helicopters and low flying fixed-wing jets, U.S. forces have never fired this missile in combat; however, the system has been successfully used under such conditions by allies of the United States.  Based on a December 1994 decision, the M48 was deactivated and removed from the U.S. Army National Guard inventory by the end of 1997.
 
The launcher was capable of a full 360 degrees traverse and +90/-9 degrees of elevation, with four missiles carried on the launch rails and eight extras stored below the launcher with their fins and wings removed.  The gunner sat between the missile pairs on the mount, aiming using a simple reflex sight.  An auxiliary power unit provides the necessary power to run the mount, and a cryonic air cooler provides the missile seekers with the necessary cooling.
 
The Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation 
Ford Aerospace was the aerospace and defense division of Ford Motor Company.  Based in Dearborn, Michigan, the defense firm was active from 1956 (originally as Philco and then Philco Ford) through 1990, when it was sold to the Loral Corporation.  Major divisions were located in Palo Alto CA (Space Systems Division), San Jose CA (Western Development Laboratories) and Newport Beach (Aeronutronic Division).  Other operations were located in a number of other states around the United States.