Air-to-air weapon modification for military aircraft

Claim 1

In a military aircraft having at least ony pylon permanently connected to each wing, said pylons each having a pair of spaced hooks for suspension mounting of conventional air-to-ground weapons, said aircraft further having an electrical system including a power supply, a weapons control network adapted to launch or reject said air-to-ground weapons in response to signals from said power supply, and a pair of selectively operable switches for connecting said signals to said control network to release and reject, respectively, a weapon connected to said network, the combination comprising: (a) a mounting member having a pair of spaced lugs adapted for engagement by said spaced hooks, thereby suspending said mounting member from one of said pylons, one of said members being suspended from at least one of said pylons; (b) a pair of missile launchers fixedly connected to inboard and outboard sides, respectively, of said mounting member, each of said launchers being adapted to carry a conventional air-to-air missile; (c) means electrically connecting a first of said launchers to said weapons control network for selective launching or rejecting of a missile carried by said first launcher in response to a first selective closing of one of said first and second switches, respectively; and (d) relay means operable in response to said first closing of one of said first and second switches to electrically connect the second of said launchers to said weapons control system for selective launching and rejecting of a missile carried by said second launcher in response to a second selective closing of one of said first and second switches, respectively.