More than 460 km: The new weapon that is supposed to change air combat
The US Navy is developing a new air-to-air missile designed to allow pilots to shoot down enemy aircraft and UAVs from a distance of more than 250 nautical miles – about 463 km – before they can even get close to the launching aircraft or the force it is protecting. The weapon, the AIM-424 LRAAM, known as "MALICE", is being developed with the goal of significantly increasing the strike range and survivability of fighter jets.
The US Navy is developing a new air-to-air missile designed to allow pilots to shoot down enemy aircraft and UAVs from a distance of more than 250 nautical miles – about 463 km – before they can even get close to the launching aircraft or the force it is protecting. The weapon, the AIM-424 LRAAM, known as "MALICE", is being developed with the goal of significantly increasing the strike range and survivability of American fighter jets.
The idea behind the new missile is simple: to allow a pilot to identify a threat using radar, launch at it from a very long distance, and destroy it before the opposing aircraft reach a range where they can endanger each other. This way, a fighter jet will be able to protect not only itself but also assist in protecting naval forces from a great distance.
"LRAAM has the ability to maintain the Department of Defense's advantage in 'first detect, first shoot, and first kill,' by providing greater range, higher survivability, and improved tactical flexibility for our pilots in air-to-air combat," the US Navy stated. According to sources, the missile is intended to increase the range, lethality, and operational effectiveness of the Marine Corps and Navy aviation forces.
The most prominent figure is the range. According to the details published, the AIM-424 is capable of reaching more than 250 nautical miles, meaning over 460 km. Such a distance allows the launching aircraft to attack targets located far beyond the horizon and remain far from the threat it is trying to destroy.
Its dimensions are also unusual compared to common air-to-air missiles. Its length is about 4.1 meters and its weight is about 680 kg. For comparison, the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the main air-to-air missiles in use today, weighs only about 152 kg. The large gap indicates, among other things, the propulsion system required to bring the weapon to the exceptional ranges for which it is intended.
The missile is equipped with a warhead based on blast and fragmentation. This means it does not have to collide directly with the aircraft or UAV it is attacking. When it reaches the vicinity of the target, the explosion scatters fragments capable of causing heavy damage or destroying it.
The Navy plans for the weapon to be able to operate with several generations of fighter jets. In the images published, the missile is seen mounted on an F/A-18E Super Hornet for testing, and in another image, it appears in the internal weapons bay of an F-35C alongside an AIM-120 missile. According to American sources, the system is intended for fourth and fifth-generation aircraft as well as future sixth-generation aircraft.
The operational significance is particularly broad for the Navy. An aircraft equipped with such a missile may deal with an aerial threat before it reaches the vicinity of an aircraft carrier or other vessels. Instead of waiting for a hostile aircraft or UAV to approach the naval force, the goal is to push the interception point hundreds of kilometers away from it.
The development of the LRAAM is being carried out by the company Raytheon, one of the main weapons manufacturers for the US military. If it enters service in accordance with the planned capabilities, the missile is supposed to give American pilots the ability to conduct air battles from much greater ranges – with the main goal being to see first, shoot first, and prevent the enemy from reaching a distance from which it could return fire.
