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AMRAAM: Deploying & Developing America’s Medium-Range Air-Air Missile

May 21, 2021 04:56 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

Latest update [?]

May 21/21: Taiwan Taiwan has successfully tested AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) locally for the first time. On May 10, the F-16D Block 70 Viper aircraft successfully destroyed target drones in tests. Each RoCAF F-16V was reportedly armed with two AMRAAMs and two short-range AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, with the first and third aircraft each launching an AMRAAM which successfully engaged target drones.

The above update is a recent abstract from our full article, itself part of our subscription offering. Keep reading to know more.

AIM-120C from F-22A
(click for test missile zoom)

Raytheon’s AIM-120 Advanced, Medium-Range Air to Air Missile (AMRAAM) has become the world market leader for medium range air-to-air missiles, and is also beginning to make inroads within land-based defense systems. It was designed with the lessons of Vietnam in mind, and of local air combat exercises like ACEVAL and Red Flag. This DID FOCUS article covers successive generations of AMRAAM missiles, international contracts and key events from 2006 onward, and even some of its emerging competitors.

One of the key lessons learned from Vietnam was that a fighter would be likely to encounter multiple enemies, and would need to launch and guide several missiles at once in order to ensure its survival. This had not been possible with the AIM-7 Sparrow, a “semi-active radar homing” missile that required a constant radar lock on one target. To make matters worse, enemy fighters were capable of launching missiles of their own. Pilots who weren’t free to maneuver after launch would often be forced to “break lock,” or be killed – sometimes even by a short-range missile fired during the last phases of their enemy’s approach. Since fighters that could carry radar-guided missiles like the AIM-7 tended to be larger and more expensive, and the Soviets were known to have far more fighters overall, this was not a good trade.