Go Back  PPRuNe Forums > Aircrew Forums > Military Aviation
Reload this Page >

AIM-120 Replacement

Wikiposts
Search
Military Aviation A forum for the professionals who fly military hardware. Also for the backroom boys and girls who support the flying and maintain the equipment, and without whom nothing would ever leave the ground. All armies, navies and air forces of the world equally welcome here.

AIM-120 Replacement

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 2nd Nov 2017, 20:59
  #1 (permalink)  
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Peripatetic
Posts: 17,439
Received 1,601 Likes on 734 Posts
AIM-120 Replacement

New long-range missile project emerges in US budget

The existence of a two-year-old project to develop a new air-to-air missile capable of intercepting targets at great distances has emerged in US budget documents.

The Office of the Secretary Defense (OSD) launched a two-year engineering assessment of a new long-range engagement weapon (LREW) designed with the goal of “maintaining air dominance”, according to budget documents released last March. Analyses of the design, engineering and kill chain requirements were expected to be complete in the last fiscal year, although details are classified. “When successful, LREW will transition to multiple services,” the documents show.

Though funded for more than two years, the LREW project had escaped notice in an obscure budget line item for an OSD account named “emerging capabilities technology development”, which is mostly reserved for small electronic warfare projects. But the programme offers the first indication that the US military is interested in a new missile to replace or surpass the capabilities of the Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM.

An unclassified concept image of the LREW was published last April in a presentation by Chuck Perkins, the principal deputy to the assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. The image in Perkins’ presentation may not reflect the classified version of the LREW concept, but depicts a large, two-stage missile launched from an internal weapons bay of a Lockheed Martin F-22.

The LREW also emerges as Chinese and Russian militaries reportedly are pursuing new air intercept missiles with ranges significantly longer than the AIM-120D. The range of the AIM-120D is classified, but is thought to extend to about 100mi (160km).....
ORAC is offline  
Old 2nd Nov 2017, 23:47
  #2 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: South Skerry
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
"The range of the AIM-120D is classified, but is thought to extend to about 100mi (160km)....."

If you drop it from low Earth orbit and measure straight down.
George K Lee is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 07:44
  #3 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Meteor not good enough then?
glad rag is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 10:05
  #4 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,058
Received 24 Likes on 11 Posts
Presumably it will have a ballistic mode ?
Lordflasheart is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 10:14
  #5 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London
Posts: 1,578
Received 18 Likes on 10 Posts
Will be interesting to see how it defeats those laser-based countermeasures being fielded/developed
dead_pan is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 10:17
  #6 (permalink)  
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Peripatetic
Posts: 17,439
Received 1,601 Likes on 734 Posts
From AWST 4 years ago.....

Lockheed Reveals New Air-Launched Missile Concepts
Sep 17, 2013


FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Lockheed Martin is showing three conceptual air-launched missiles at the Air Force Association (AFA) show outside Washington this week, two of which are air-to-air weapons......

On show for the first time at AFA is a model of Lockheed Martin’s Cuda, a so-called “Halfraam” weapon about half as long as an Amraam and compact enough to fit six missiles into each bay of the F-35 or F-22. Cuda draws on the hit-to-kill technology used on the PAC-3 missile, is designed to have a radar seeker and has both movable tails and forward attitude control motors for high agility. The company is not disclosing Cuda’s design range, but one variation of the concept is a two-stage missile with a similar total length to Amraam, presumably with the goal of covering a wide range envelope with a single missile design.

Both Cuda and SSTRR are being supported by independent research and development money and are being pushed as concepts of interest under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Air Dominance Initiative project......





ORAC is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 11:28
  #7 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Here
Posts: 1,709
Received 38 Likes on 23 Posts
Originally Posted by glad rag
Meteor not good enough then?
Not made in America (See also ASRAAM)
Davef68 is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 12:46
  #8 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by ORAC
From AWST 4 years ago.....

Lockheed Reveals New Air-Launched Missile Concepts
Sep 17, 2013


FORT WASHINGTON, Md. — Lockheed Martin is showing three conceptual air-launched missiles at the Air Force Association (AFA) show outside Washington this week, two of which are air-to-air weapons......

On show for the first time at AFA is a model of Lockheed Martin’s Cuda, a so-called “Halfraam” weapon about half as long as an Amraam and compact enough to fit six missiles into each bay of the F-35 or F-22. Cuda draws on the hit-to-kill technology used on the PAC-3 missile, is designed to have a radar seeker and has both movable tails and forward attitude control motors for high agility. The company is not disclosing Cuda’s design range, but one variation of the concept is a two-stage missile with a similar total length to Amraam, presumably with the goal of covering a wide range envelope with a single missile design.

Both Cuda and SSTRR are being supported by independent research and development money and are being pushed as concepts of interest under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Air Dominance Initiative project......





Interest banding there...
glad rag is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 15:20
  #9 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 412
Received 32 Likes on 19 Posts
Didn't AIM-54 Phoenix have a range of around 160km?
57mm is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 16:38
  #10 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 2,164
Received 47 Likes on 23 Posts
Not really, even if the target was doing most of the work. Real-world Phoenix use was not that impressive as its no-escape zone was quite poor compared to the missile's maximum range. The balance achieved by AMRAAM is much better in this regard, even if the top-trumps figures are lower. If you really want a missile that can do serious stuff at range against a uncooperative target then Meteor is what you want.
Just This Once... is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 18:14
  #11 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Nevada, USA
Posts: 1,609
Received 43 Likes on 30 Posts
Also, Phoenix was so heavy (1024 lbs compared to 335 lbs for AMRAAM) that an F-14 couldn't land safely back on the carrier with a full load of 6.

Hence, the most used Cold War fit for fleet defense was 1 x Phoenix, 2 x Sparrow and 2 x Sidewinder + gun.
RAFEngO74to09 is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 21:48
  #12 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: South Skerry
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The effort that has been expended by the USAF to avoid buying Meteor is quite something. Of course some promoters and fanboys hate the idea too, because it implies that their wonderplanes might not wipe out everything in the sky with AMRAAM C or D.

And JTO is correct about AIM-54. It didn't help that, at long range, the target's non-cooperation was assured by the vast column of smoke and flame which marked the start of the missile's lofted trajectory.
George K Lee is offline  
Old 3rd Nov 2017, 21:55
  #13 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: england
Age: 58
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ra and Rne are important, but what about ECM capabilities? If these don't work, the rest is irrelevant - this includes the ability to find the target in the first place.
theonewhoknows is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2017, 06:22
  #14 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Moscow region
Age: 65
Posts: 567
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Talking about LR A2A missiles, (very) old good R-37 is still having the longest range:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-37_(missile)


And as correctly mentioned above, range alone is not "the king", thus the next generation had less range but was much "smarter".
A_Van is offline  
Old 4th Nov 2017, 15:13
  #15 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Range isn't king.
Yeah riigghhtttt
glad rag is offline  
Old 5th Nov 2017, 00:17
  #16 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: South Skerry
Posts: 305
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Range is cool, but range against what?

An ICBM has a metric ****ton of range against a fixed target.
George K Lee is offline  
Old 5th Nov 2017, 20:42
  #17 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: england
Age: 58
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by glad rag
Range isn't king.
Yeah riigghhtttt
It would be a pleasure to hear your views on SA, AAM and EW.
theonewhoknows is offline  
Old 8th Nov 2017, 00:10
  #18 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Depends. If you have unflinching belief, then press on into MEZ.
glad rag is offline  
Old 8th Nov 2017, 07:14
  #19 (permalink)  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 2,164
Received 47 Likes on 23 Posts
Originally Posted by glad rag
Range isn't king.
Yeah riigghhtttt
Kinematics are the true king and you are forced to wear the opponent’s royal gown.

SA is your defence against being right royally fooked.
Just This Once... is offline  
Old 8th Nov 2017, 07:57
  #20 (permalink)  
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Peripatetic
Posts: 17,439
Received 1,601 Likes on 734 Posts
It’s back to energy management, innit?
ORAC is offline  


Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.