Throughout most of the early to mid-20th century, air-to-air combat involved shooting bullets at a target to take them out of the fight. This practice continued through World War II, but the invention of reliable air-to-air rockets around that time allowed aircraft to remain further apart and strike targets before being seen. The United States' first air-to-air missile (AAM) was the Hughes AIM-4, which entered service in 1955, and the nation's technology has advanced significantly since then. Each new generation of AAM improved on previous designs, with developments such as the now 70-year-old AIM-9 Sidewinder – one of the most-used AAMs in the world – allowing for…