Raytheon Wins AIM-9X Deal | Time-on-Target Harpoon Attack Exercised During SINKEX | New Amphibious Warship For Taiwan

Americas

The US Navy awarded Raytheon Technologies a $232.8 million deal to procure material and support equipment for depot maintenance facilities and unit level support equipment, as well as to provide program administrative support for non-recurring sustainment activities and supplies, services, and planning for depot standup and expansion in support of the for the F-35 Lightning II Program. Work will take place in Connecticut, Florida, Oklahoma. Japan, Norway, Australia, Indiana, Netherlands, North Carolina and Arizona. Expected completion will be by September 2025.

The Navy awarded Raytheon a $225.7 million deal for AIM-9X Block II and Block II+ System Improvement Program Increment IV to include hardware and software development to the AIM-9X system as well as test and integration of developed hardware and capabilities. More specifically the hardware development will include updates to the AIM-9X sensor, electronics unit, and guidance unit and the software efforts include the development of the operational flight software versions 10.5 and 11.5 and integrated flight software. Additionally, this contract provides program protection, cyber security, information assurance and training for the AIM-9X system. Work will take place in Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and Utah. Estimated completion will be in September 2027.

Middle East & Africa

Turkey said on Sunday it had “neutralized,” the term its defense ministry usually employs for killed, some 30 members of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in separate cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria. Turkey regularly carries out cross-border air strikes, often with armed drones, in neighboring Iraq and Syria as part of its offensive against PKK militants based there.

Europe

The recently concluded sinking exercise (SINKEX) called Atlantic Thunder 22 allowed Combat Air Crew Six (CAC-6) from VP-9 to execute a coordinated time-on-target using Harpoon anti-ship missiles with the British Royal Navy’s HMS Westminster. The target was decommissioned Oliver Hazard Perry Class frigate ex-USS Boone. A time-on-target strike is when all munitions arrived on the target nearly at the same time. Using Naval Integrated Fires (NIFE), the target coordinates were transmitted to HMS Westminster for the warship to launch two Harpoons passively. That was the first time NIFE has been used to carry out an attack on a real target in a multinational environment.

Asia-Pacific

The Taiwanese Navy has inducted a new, indigenously-made amphibious warship to transport troops and military supplies to vulnerable islands. The development is part of the country’s push for self-sufficiency in defense and its continuing modernization efforts amid increasing pressure from China. Named after Taipei’s tallest mountain, the 10,000-ton Yu Shan is equipped with a forward cannon for air and surface targets.

Hyundai Rotem has entered into a collaborative agreement with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to develop unmanned turrets for next-generation military vehicles. The South Korean firm said a memorandum of understanding was signed by the two companies during the DX Korea 2022 defense exhibition in Goyang.

Today’s Video

WATCH: Just How Powerful is America’s AIM-9X Sidewinder Missile

Raytheon’s Lot-12 AIM-9X Missile Orders

Raytheon’s AIM-9X Block II would have made Top Gun a very short movie. It’s the USA’s most advanced short range air-air missile, capable of using its datalink, thrust vectoring maneuverability, and advanced imaging infrared seeker to hit targets behind the launching fighter. Unlike previous AIM-9 models, the AIM-9X can even be used against targets on the ground. The 2-way datalink is the most significant single Block II change, as it allows the missile to fly toward targets its seeker can’t yet see, using target position tracking from its fighter. The Block II also has improved seeker lock-on-after-launch vs. the original AIM-9X, a ‘lofting’ fly-out profile the boosts its range, and better all weather laser fusing against small targets.

These changes will help keep it competitive against foreign missiles like MBDA UK’s AIM-132 ASRAAM, RAFAEL of Israel’s Python 5, the multinational German-led IRIS-T, and Russia’s R73/ AA-11 Archer. The end of September 2011 saw the first significant order from the US military for AIM-9X Block II missiles, shortly after successful live fire tests at China Lake, CA. The Lot 12 order followed very soon after, and is no longer an all-USA order.