Latest AMRAAM for UAE

David Donald

Thursday, 26 February, 2009

Earlier this week the governments of the UAE and USA executed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the purchase of the latest version of Raytheon’s AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile).

The UAE is purchasing 224 AIM-120C-7 missiles to arm its F-16 Block 60 aircraft, which are currently equipped with the AIM-120C-5 version. The AMRAAM buy is part of a larger air-launched weapons package that was notified to US Congress in December, also covering the supply of GBU-12/24 laser-guided bombs and GBU-31 JDAMs.

AIM-120C-7 is the latest operational AMRAAM version. Compared with the C-5, it has a revised guidance section that replaces the traditional horizontal-style processor boards with new, circular units. These cards are stacked in the processor unit “like hockey pucks”, said Cesar ‘Rico’ Rodriguez, programme manager, airto- air business development at Raytheon’s Tucson-based Missile Systems. “That way, a lot more processing power can be packed in.”

While the C-7’s vital statistics stay the same, the guidance system has new algorithms that alter the missile’s flight profile. “The missile flies a lot more smoothly, saving energy during the fly-out,” said Rodriguez.