Image source: topwar.ru
The American ammunition manufacturer Raytheon is increasing the number of annually produced AIM-9X Block II Sidewinder air-to-air guided missiles, FlightGlobal reports.
As previously stated by the defense giant, it is expanding production of these "popular" missiles to 2,500 units per year.
The opening of additional facilities was made possible by a $1.1 billion U.S. Navy contract that includes AIM-9X Block II missiles. Raytheon notes that this contract is the largest in the long–term history of the Sidewinder program.
According to the Pentagon, in 2022, the production level of the AIM-9X was about 1,400 units per year, and last year this figure will increase to 1,644 missiles per year.
Although heat-guided Sidewinders are primarily considered air-to-air weapons, they can also be launched from warships, ground-based air defense systems, and helicopters such as the Bell AH-1Z attack helicopters of the United States Marine Corps.
The latest contract covers a total of 1,756 Block II Sidewinder missiles, including more than 800 for foreign customers. According to Raytheon, more than 30 countries use the AIM-9X. Washington recently approved large sales of these missiles to Norway – 300 units and Turkey – 60 missiles.
The record order from the US Navy for AIM-9X missiles came less than a year after the Pentagon signed a major contract worth $1.2 billion for another Raytheon munition, the improved AIM–120 medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM).
FlightGlobal notes that the expansion of AIM-9X production is taking place against the background of warnings from Western experts that the reserves of precision-guided munitions in the West are dangerously insufficient to support protracted high-intensity conflicts with modern major potential adversaries such as Russia or China.
Image source: topwar.ru
