![]() The Air Force awarded competitive SiAW contracts to 元Harris Technologies, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman in May 2022. It builds on the Air Force-DARPA Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC). The missile is a ground-attack weapon using an air-breathing, scramjet engine, and will be small enough to be carried on fighter-sized aircraft the F-15EX has been mentioned as a likely platform. Raytheon won the HACM competition in September 2022, with an initial operating capability eyed for around 2027. The B-1B and F-15EX may also be equipped with it. ![]() A B-52 can carry four ARRWs on its wing pylons. Part of Lockheed’s contract is to demonstrate it can be produced affordably. The Lockheed Martin weapon has accumulated several successful flight- tests after a string of failures, but USAF officials are mum on how many it plans to build. Intended for use against high-value or mobile targets where speed of attack from standoff range is crucial, ARRW accelerates to hypersonic speed with a rocket, detaches, and then maneuvers as it glides to its target. ![]() The ARRW is USAF’s large, quick-and-dirty entrée into hypersonic missiles-those that travel at more than five times the speed of sound. A Lockheed proposal that AFRL began evaluating in 2019 under the Small Advanced Capabilities Missile project, the CUDA would also be half the size of AMRAAM, steered with a unique system of propulsive bursts from around the rocket body.ĪGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW). Raytheon received Air Force Research Laboratory funding to explore Peregrine in December 2022 previously, it was a self-funded program.ĬUDA. This Raytheon concept would combine the capability of the AMRAAM with longer range in a package only half the size. The ERAAM/LRAAM may be a competitor to Raytheon’s LREW. Built by Boeing, the MAM contracts also support other company projects, such as the Compact Air-to-Air Missile (CAAM), Extended-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ERAAM), and Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM). Possibly a successor to the AIM-9X short-range dogfight missile, the MAM will have stackable propulsion units and interchangeable seekers. Built by Raytheon, the LREW is reportedly a larger missile that can only be carried externally on fighters, and may be intended to shoot down adversary airborne warning systems, tankers, or bombers at great distances. Another potential AMRAAM successor or JATM complement. The Navy and Army are said to be collaborating with USAF on JATM. The JATM’s enhanced range is greater than China’s PL-15-in many ways, an AMRAAM clone, restoring the “first shot, first kill” advantage to U.S. Little has been revealed since, but USAF has acknowledged that live tests were conducted in 20. Built by Lockheed Martin it was first revealed in 2019. ![]() This radar-guided dogfight missile will be about the same size as the 30-year-old AIM-120 AMRAAM, but with considerably longer range. Other weapons, still classified, are also likely in development.ĪIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). This list was compiled from answers to inquiries, industry day briefings, and budget documents. Not all will ultimately enter service, but with modularity a consistent theme, some elements could still join the inventory. The Air Force is exploring a host of new air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons to fill roles from direct-strike bombs and standoff ground attack missiles to long-range dogfight missiles. On The Way: 10 Fifth-Generation Weapons Now in Development
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