Indonesia Wants Maverick Missiles for Training
The US DSCA notified Congress [PDF] on August 21, 2012 of Indonesia’s request for 18 AGM-65K2 Maverick missiles, 36 TGM-65K2 Captive Air Training Missiles, 3 TGM-65D Maintenance Training Missiles, and the necessary services and ancillaries, for an estimated $25M total. If the request turns into an actual contract, the missiles will equip Indonesia’s F-16s. The contractor is Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ.
Though fairly recent, this version of the popular Maverick missile relies on a charge-coupled device (CCD) seeker that is less precise than the latest laser guidance found on the AGM-65L variant that the US Air Force is upgrading to. But CCD is itself an improvement from lower-resolution TV guidance found on earlier generations of this missile exported to 36 countries.
Per budget documents issued in February 2012 in the President Request FY13, the USAF plans to use Foreign Military Sales (FMS) credits to retrofit up to 60 older missiles into AGM-65Ls until Low Rate Initial Production, while full scale production is scheduled to be subsequently financed out of war funds (OCO) starting in December 2012. However this version is a relatively recent development that seems so far exclusive to the US, though Raytheon indicated in 2010 that they hoped to make it available for export. With JAGM‘s future far from certain, it seems smart to continue improving this proven design. It would not be too surprising to see AGM-65M/N/Ps before this missile line is eventually closed.
