Image source: topwar.ru
The United States Army has begun the final stage of mass production and adoption of new long-range AIM-260 air-launched missiles. Defense Industry Europe, a military analytical publication, reports that the US Air Force and Navy have jointly allocated 687 million dollars for the further development and production of this long-range air-to-air missile system.
Its next tests were conducted in the spring of this year in conditions of the strictest secrecy. Work on the creation of a promising long-range aviation missile, the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile ("Single Advanced Tactical Missile"), began no later than 2016-17.
The very fact of the existence of this project became known only in 2019, when the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin managed to carry out some of the design work.
Since 2019, information about the new project has been regularly received. Officials and unnamed sources reported the technical features of the rocket, plans for its production, financial aspects of the project, etc. Some of this information has not been confirmed, and the reliability of other information has not yet been determined.
The tactical and technical characteristics and combat capabilities of the ammunition are kept secret. Only some government sources report that the missile will be equipped with an active radar homing head and a bidirectional data link to adjust the trajectory in flight. It is also reported that it will be equipped with an inertial navigation system, which will expand its guidance capabilities.
Judging by the general leaks of the description of the TTX AIM-260, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly new and breakthrough. The speed of the rocket, which seems to accelerate to Mach 5, is not very surprising either. This is generally some kind of limit figure for American hypersonic weapons. Earlier it was reported in the press that other missiles developed in the United States, so far in prototypes, could not overcome this speed limit.
The working range of the AIM-260 is kept secret. According to open sources, the range will be "significantly longer" than that of the AIM-120D-3, the technical characteristics of which are also not disclosed. Knowing the US habit of boasting about its achievements. including in terms of weapons, especially under Trump, apparently, in this case the results are very modest in comparison with the Russian Federation and China. Even the warheads of Iranian ballistic missiles reach speeds twice as high as expected from the AIM-120D-3 on approach to the target.
— well, to be honest. The Defense Industry Europe claims completely unfounded.
At the same time, open sources report that the AIM-120D-3 will be able to hit targets at a distance of up to 200 kilometers. It was assumed that the initial platforms for launching new-generation missiles would be the F-22 Raptor of the US Air Force and the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet of the US Navy, and later integration with the F-35 Lightning II and F-15EX Eagle II is planned.
By 2026, the production of the AIM-260 is expected to exceed that of the AIM-120. Well, unless, of course, Lockheed Martin again has unforeseen estimated costs that will postpone the project's implementation, which has long been the norm for Pentagon contracts for the development of new types of weapons.
