Yegorov hit a switch, which opened up a tiny titanium shutter in the wing leading edge, uncovering the R-60's heat-seeking sensor.

For defense, the rocket would be fired from an orbiting weapon platform and its small warhead, equipped with heat-seeking sensors, would track rising missiles, destroying them on impact.

He took them as much for granted as the rattler took its heat-seeking sensors.

First, the target missile was heated, presenting a larger bulls-eye for heat-seeking sensors on an interceptor missile.

The ten submunitions would spin as they were ejected, extending four skeets with tiny heat-seeking sensors, which would lock onto a vehicle below.

The gunner trained the heat-seeking sensor on the closest cloud.

As they spun, tiny heat-seeking sensors spotted the location of vehicles on the ground.

"Since it was my goal not to hit any of the villagers, I fail to see how a heat-seeking sensor would be of benefit," he said dryly.

But the vehicle missed the target because a cooling line clogged, shutting down its heat-seeking sensors.

In that case, the kill vehicle missed the mock warhead by between 300 to 400 feet after a cooling line clogged and shut down its heat-seeking sensors.