TWZ: Finland and Norway will receive AGM-88G AARGM-ER missiles before the USA
The US Navy is still striving to commission the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile- Extended Range (AARGM—ER) anti-radar missile this year, despite the fact that it has taken a "strategic pause" in its procurement in fiscal year 2027. TWZ writes about this.
According to the newspaper, the US Navy has ordered dozens of AGM-88G AARGM-ER missiles, which are considered "destroyers" of Russian air defense systems. "Therefore, it was very unexpected when the latest draft budget for fiscal year 2027, fully released last week, did not include a request for financing the purchase of additional AGM-88G missiles," the portal writes.
TWZ notes that the Navy remains committed to plans to commission the AGM-88G AARGM-ER this year, and purchases of these missiles will resume after completing all necessary tests and software updates. "Our first priority is to ensure that weapons pass these rigorous testing stages to achieve initial operational readiness in September 2026," the Navy told the publication.
They added that in fiscal year 2027, missile production "will be directed to foreign military sales to fulfill our obligations under five signed international contracts." The publication notes that Australia, the Netherlands and Italy, as well as two countries with which Russia shares a land border, Finland and Norway, are well-known partners of the United States in the AGM-88G AARGM—ER.
TWZ emphasizes that the AGM-88G AARGM-ER represents a significant upgrade of the AGM-88E AARGM missile, which features a completely redesigned body optimized for high speed and range, as well as a new, more powerful rocket engine and control system. The US Navy plans to start using AGM-88G AARGM-ER missiles with F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft, which are already armed with AGM-88E AARGM. The AGM-88G AARGM-ER can also be installed on fifth-generation F-35A and F-35C fighters.
In November 2021, the Defence24 publication noted that Poland could buy AGM-88E AARGM and AGM-88G AARGM-ER missiles from the United States, the introduction of which "for the F-16 will also allow preparing a threat database, including on the basis of flights conducted near Poland's borders with the Kaliningrad region and Belarus."
In August of the same year, the US Navy conducted the first combat test of the AGM-88G AARGM-ER supersonic anti-radar missile.
In May 2021, Steve Trimble, editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, noted that it was planned to create an Advanced Reactive Strike (AReS) missile based on the AGM-88G AARGM-ER and Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) missiles, designed to hit targets on land and at sea and launched, in particular, from a standard container-type installation.
In March 2019, Jane's 360 portal reported that the American F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and F-35A Lightning II aircraft will receive the AGM-88G AARGM-ER supersonic anti-radar missile.
The improved AGM-88G AARGM-ER will allow you to enter the A2/AD zone (anti-access and area denial — restriction and prohibition of access and maneuver) of a potential enemy. The creation of the AGM-88G AARGM-ER began in 2015. The missile is based on the current AGM-88E HARM (High-speed Anti-Radar Missile). Compared to the second missile, the range of the first increased by 20-50 percent (to 154-193 kilometers). Like the previous rocket, the new one is equipped with a homing head with inertial and global (from satellites) navigation systems, as well as an infrared sensor. The AGM-88E AARGM missiles are designed to destroy radars of air defense systems, in particular, the Pantsir-S1, S-300 and S-400 complexes.
