Page "AIM-7 Sparrow" Paragraph 6

As early as 1950 Douglas examined equipping the Sparrow with an active radar seeker, initially known as XAAM-N-2a Sparrow II, the original retroactively becoming Sparrow I.

In 1952 it was given the new code AAM-N-3.

The active radar made the Sparrow II a " fire and forget " weapon, allowing several to be fired at separate targets at the same time.