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F-15C launches AMRAAM
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Flight International reports that Lockheed is proposing a $137 million program to adapt its Patriot PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles for use on the USAF’s F-15C Eagle air superiority fighters. The missiles would reportedly be used to help the fighters kill ballistic missiles during the boost phase or mid-course phase, instead of hoping for a Patriot’s usual final phase intercept. Patriot PAC-3 missiles also have significantly longer range than the AIM-120 AMRAAM, creating the potential for wider coverage against cruise missiles and other aerial threats. In order to use an AIM-104 Patriot air-launched hit-to-kill (ALHTK) effectively, however, the F-15s would need to add IRST capability to track enemy missiles outside the atmosphere.

With Boeing’s Airborne Laser in limbo and Ground-based Midcourse Defense missiles headed for a freeze, Lockheed Martin hopes that the US Missile Defense Agency may look to cheaper air-launched solutions, in order to extend ABM coverage while enhancing other military capabilities.

PAC-3, labeled
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There is some precedent for this kind of conversion. Iran is widely believed to have adapted some of its MIM-32 Hawk missiles for use on F-14 Tomcats, after supplies of more conventional American air-to-air missiles were cut off (see also claimed video). Hawk was the Patriot’s predecessor.

There’s also precedent for the concept. Raytheon’s NCADE marries the body of an AIM-120 AMRAAM medium-range air-air missile with an enlarged version of the AIM-9X Sidewinder’s infrared seeker, in order to hit ballistic missiles in their boost phase. NCADE is currently in development and testing, and offers a far wider range of potential uses, in exchange for less range than a Patriot-based system. NCADE is a fire-and-forget weapon that can receive “fly-to” commands. This allows them to be used by a wider range of platforms, from fighters who can combine it with IRST sensors for long-range no-warning shots, to self-defense for medium and large surveillance aircraft, to employment from UAVs or even aerostats as a cruise missile defense option.

Updates

Sept 17/09: Flight International reports that a preliminary joint study with the US Missile Defense Agency delivered a positive assessment of air-launched interceptors for ballistic missiles. At present, 2 designs are considered to be contenders.

Raytheon reportedly gave figures for NCADE development of $450 million for development, followed by $1 million to purchase each missile. Lockheed Martin’s’s PAC-3 Patriot-based air-launched hit-to-kill (ALHTK) concept, meanwhile, was reportedly projected to cost a minimum of $130 million.