Howard Gethin/LONDON
Deliveries of the Matra British Aerospace ASRAAM advanced short-range air-to-air missile to the Royal Air Force have been delayed by what the UK Minstry of Defence says are "operational and technical reasons".
Neither customer or supplier will give a revised in-service date, but with production contracts on some major systems still to be signed it is likely to be around the end of the year before deliveries reach RAF targets.
Matra BAe declines to comment on the delay, beyond saying: "There is no specific technical problem with ASRAAM". Several ASRAAMs have been test-fired in trials in the USA. Some operational training rounds have been delivered to the RAF.
The infrared-guided weapon had previously suffered significant delays in the development firing programme, which could have had an impact on the RAF deliveries.
The missile is due to replace the Raytheon Sidewinder AIM-9L, firstly on RAF Panavia Tornado F3 interceptors and later on the BAe Harriers and Sea Harriers of the new Joint Harrier Force. The retrofit to the Tornado was part of a wider upgrade to boost the capability of the RAF's main air defence aircraft, alongside radar improvements and the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM medium range missile.
ASRAAM has also been selected for the Royal Australian Air Force to replace AIM-9 Sidewinders on its Boeing F/A-18s. The missile is due in RAAF service in 2000.
• The US Navy has test fired the first next generation Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile, 26 months after the launch of full-scale development of the weapon.
The agile thrust-vector controlled missile was launched from an F/A-18C at the Naval Air Warfare Center at China Lake, California. Firings will also be conducted using an US Air Force F-15, with the next test scheduled in four to six weeks' time.
The inaugural firing was conducted at a subsonic speed, according to Raytheon. The launch was the first in a series of aircraft/missile separation and control tests. The AIM-9X performed several pre-programmed moderate-agility manoeuvres after separations from the fighter.
The first of 10,000 planned production missiles will be delivered to the US Navy and Air Force in 2001. The AIM-9X will initially be produced in low rate batches comprising of 150, 250 and 600 missiles, with the remainder to be procured over 15 years.
Source: Flight International
