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\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe United States military, and the US Air Force (USAF) in particular, invests in and places considerable store by superior technology to prevail against peer rivals. The USAF is also disinclined to allow its near allies to field capabilities it does not also have access to. In the air force\u0026rsquo;s slipstream, US industry is often first to market with advanced systems.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis makes the USAF\u0026rsquo;s apparent approach to its next generation of beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles (AAMs) all the more intriguing.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAIM-260 missile\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn 2022, the air force is planning to begin to field the Lockheed Martin AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) as a replacement for the Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). For almost 30 years the latter has been the Western benchmark for active-radar-guided missile performance.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe AIM-260 is the USAF\u0026rsquo;s priority AAM development, prompted at least in part by China\u0026rsquo;s increasingly capable AAM inventory. The People\u0026rsquo;s Liberation Army Air Force\u0026rsquo;s latest AAM to enter service, the PL-15, joined the inventory in 2018 and has a greater range than the AIM-120 family.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe AIM-260 undoubtedly offers marked improvements over the AIM-120, including in overall range. There remain questions, however, as to its maximum fly-out range and its end-game performance at extended ranges. The missile designer may have come up with a novel propulsion approach for the AIM-260 to address this, or perhaps there is an unseen development intended to provide a much longer-range engagement weapon. The USAF alternatively could rely on the tactical advantage of low-observable launch platforms, such as the F-22 and to a lesser extent the F-35, combined with the AIM-260\u0026rsquo;s performance to defeat aircraft with notionally longer-range missiles. Such an approach, however, will not work with the USAF\u0026rsquo;s \u0026lsquo;legacy\u0026rsquo; fourth-generation fighters such as the F-15 and F-16.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRamjet propulsion\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe AIM-120 was replaced as the radar-guided AAM performance yardstick with the introduction into service in 2016 of the European \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e extended-range AAM, developed by MBDA. The \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e has greater range, and more importantly the missile remains powered during the final stage of a medium-to-long-range engagement. This is because the AIM-120 is powered by a solid rocket, while the \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e uses a ramjet sustainer engine. While the AMRAAM has a greater peak velocity, the result of rapid acceleration likely to be more than Mach 4, the solid propellant burns out comparatively quickly even with a boost-sustain motor configuration when compared to a ramjet. The \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e\u0026rsquo;s ramjet is thought to have fuel to operate for at least 60 seconds and a faster average speed.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAll other things being equal, this gives the ramjet sustainer missile a far greater no-escape zone than a traditional solid-propellant missile. The no-escape zone is the volume of space in the front quadrant of the launch aircraft within which the target aircraft can be engaged irrespective of any evasive manoeuvre it might execute. The \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e is described as having an \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\u0022https://saab.com/gripen/news/blog/gripen-blog/2019/quick-launch-gripen-the-most-advanced-air-to-air-missile-in-the-world/\u0022\u003e\u003cspan class=\u0022Hyperlink0\u0022\u003eoperational range\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e greater than 100 kilometres, and a 60\u0026nbsp;km no-escape zone. Alongside electronic countermeasures, defensive tactics include attempting to outrun and outmanoeuvre the incoming missile by bleeding off its energy. In the case of a traditional solid-propellant missile, at medium range it is already coasting; the more it has to manoeuvre, the more energy it loses.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDespite almost 40 years of admittedly sometimes sporadic research and development into AAM ramjet propulsion, the USAF has not opted for this with the AIM-260. While the air force has not provided any detail of the propulsion for the AIM-260, it has said it does not use a ramjet. Air Force Brigadier-General Anthony Genatempo, the USAF programme executive officer for weapons, has also previously told journalists that the missile does not use a ramjet. He also indicated the weapon would be no larger than the AIM-120.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLockheed Martin may have adopted some form of boost-coast-boost configuration for the AIM-260 motor, possibly with a higher-energy propellant than previous generations of solid motors. Even so, it remains questionable whether this would provide a similar overall performance to a \u003cem\u003eMeteor\u003c/em\u003e-class missile.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\u0022BodyA\u0022 style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf it does, then the US has so far kept this propulsion development under wraps. If it does not, then the question that arises is whether the US has additional, as-yet classified, long-range AAM technology in the works.\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis analysis originally featured on the IISS Military Balance+, the online database that provides indispensable information and analysis for users in government, the armed forces, the private sector, academia, the media and more. Customise, view, compare and download data instantly, anywhere, anytime. The Military Balance+ includes data on air-to-air missile holdings by type in armed forces worldwide.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022text-align: left;\u0022\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000;\u0022\u003eThis analysis was also published by\u0026nbsp;\u003ca href=\u0022https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/10/will-americas-next-long-range-air-air-missile-match-chinas/160771/\u0022 style=\u0022color: #69a9e3; background-color: transparent;\u0022\u003eDefense One\u003c/a\u003e.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","className":"richtext reading--content font-secondary"}), document.getElementById("react_ZqX0Yqbrkqw2n0IACEEog"))});
The US Air Force\u0026rsquo;s AIM-260 missile now in development offers marked improvements over the AIM-120, but, as Douglas Barrie explores, questions remain as to its end-game performance at extended ranges.\u0026nbsp;
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