Python (missile) that of US FIM-92 Stinger (infrared homing and ultraviolet), with IRCCM (IR ECCM) ability to reduce background IR radiation to reduce the effectiveness of enemy flares. The Python-5 is currently the most capable air-to-air missile in Israel's inventory and one of the most advanced AAMs in the world. As a beyond-visual-range missile, it is capable of "lock-on after launch" (LOAL), and has full-sphere/all-direction (including rearward) attack ability. The missile features an advanced electro-optical infrared homing seeker which scans the target area for hostile aircraft, then locks-on for terminal chase. With a total of eighteen control surfaces and careful design, the
James A. Abrahamson retrieval and repair mission. Abrahamson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be the first director of the Strategic Defense Initiative ("SDI") in April 1984. The "Star Wars" program, as SDI's detractors dubbed it, was initiated to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system that would prevent missile attacks from other countries, particularly the Soviet Union. Some countries opposed to U.S. missile defense efforts raised concerns about the program "contravening" the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in years before the program was enacted. Ultimately, concerns about the objectives of SDI and fiscal budgetary constraints forced the Reagan