AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) (United States), Air-to-air missiles - Beyond visual range

Type
Active radar-guided air-to-air missile.

Development
The Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) AIM-120 development programme was started in 1975, with a joint US Air Force and US Navy study. Two contractors, Hughes and Raytheon, competed in a three-year validation phase and in 1981 Hughes (now Raytheon Missile Systems) was awarded the full-scale development contract. The AMRAAM was designed to follow on and improve upon the performance of AIM-7 Sparrow and to be carried on the F-14, F-15, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft. Performance improvements over the Sparrow included higher speed, greater range, increased manoeuvrability, better resistance to electronic countermeasures, an active radar terminal seeker and improved reliability and maintainability. The active radar terminal seeker together with the track-while-scan radar on the launch aircraft provides a capability to simultaneously track multiple targets, launch several missiles and manoeuvre to avoid counter attacks. Development problems forced a complete programme review in 1985; the development phase was extended by two years and the in-service date delayed from 1986 to 1989, with further evaluation problems resulting in the missile entering service with the US Air Force in 1991 and with the US Navy in 1993. As a result of the 1985 programme review, a number of design changes were identified, so as to reduce the high production costs of some assemblies. Raytheon was awarded a second source production contract and competed with Hughes for each production lot.Although the design and development of the AMRAAM was a United States programme, the project was initially linked by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with

The complete article appears in the following publication:
Publication Title	Jane's Air-Launched Weapons
Publication date	Aug 09, 2011
Section	Air-to-air missiles - Beyond visual range
Publication synopsis	The only accessible and constantly updated guide to the world's inventories of airborne weapons. Covering well over 600 systems, in service or in development, it provides a detailed and comprehensive reference to: capabilities/technology; functionality/effectiveness; user base; combat record; upgrades, variants and future enhancements. The guide includes extensive analysis tables covering all weapon types, national inventories and aircraft weapon loads and documents the world's air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, bombs, rockets, guns and underwater weapons, including new and emerging weapons.
Key contents include	Detailed review of worldwide events in the air-launched world. New systems, weapons tests/trials, combat details, contracts and deliveries, industrial moves and more Air-to-air missiles within and beyond visual range Air-to-surface missiles & direct attack, anti-ship, stand off and cruise missiles Bombs & precision and guided munitions, cluster and dispenser munitions, nuclear weapons, conventional unguided bombs Guns - integrated and mounted, podded systems Air-launched rockets Underwater weapons - mines/depth charges, torpedoes Analysis tables Contractors listings
Different sections provide in-depth detail covering	Air-Launched Rockets Air-To-Air Missiles - Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missiles - Within Visual Range Air-To-Surface Missiles - Anti-Ship Air-To-Surface Missiles - Direct Attack Air-To-Surface Missiles - Stand-Off And Cruise Analysis Analysis - Air-To-Air Missiles Analysis - Air-To-Surface Missiles Analysis - Automatic Grenade Launchers Analysis - Bombs Analysis - Country Inventories - In Development Analysis - Country Inventories - In Service Analysis - Gun Pods And Mountings Analysis - Guns Analysis - In-Service Combat Aircraft And Their Air-Launched Weapons Capabilities Analysis - Mines And Depth Charges Analysis - Rocket Launchers Analysis - Rockets Analysis - Torpedoes Analysis - Worldwide In-Service Combat Aircraft Bombs - Cluster And Dispenser Munitions Bombs - Precision And Guided Munitions Bombs - Unguided Contractors Glossary Guns - Integral And Mounted Guns - Podded Systems Underwater Weapons - Mines And Depth Charges Underwater Weapons - Torpedoes Underwater Weapons - Unclassified Projects

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