THE US NAVY has awarded British Aerospace an $11 million contract to provide Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (ASRAAMs) for US military evaluation.
Under the Pentagon's foreign comparative-testing programme, the ASRAAM will be evaluated by the USN to determine its suitability as the next-generation Sidewinder air-to-air missile, the AIM-9X.
The ASRAAM is equipped with a Hughes focal-plane-array infra-red seeker. The funds will be used to procure test missiles and contractor support for the USN evaluation.
The UK company believes that the ASRAAM, which is being developed for the Royal Air Force, can also fill the US military's requirement for an advanced weapon to replace its AIM-9 Sidewinders.
BAe's ASRAAM test programme includes firings of the weapon from Lockheed F-16 fighters at Eglin AFB, Florida, later this year. It is possible that work under the USN contract may be performed at Eglin AFB.
Other possible foreign AIM-9X candidates are the French Magic 2 and Israeli Python 4 missiles.
Under a separate research project, the USN has picked Raytheon and Hughes Aircraft to begin development of AIM-9X contenders. Raytheon has received $25 million and Hughes $22 million to begin 18 months of demonstration and validation work.
The contracts include ground and captive flight-testing of advanced, wide-angle, focal-plane-array seekers. Teamed with Hughes are BAe and Texas Instruments.Initial AIM-9X fielding is set for around the turn of the century.
Source: Flight International
