US Navy conducts first AARGM-ER captive carry flight on Super Hornet

The US Navy (USN) has conducted the first captive carry flight test of a Northrop Grumman AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) missile on a Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet combat aircraft, the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced on 2 June.

The US Navy conducted the first captive carry flight test of an AARGM-ER missile on an F/A-18E Super Hornet at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on 1 June.

The test, which took place at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Maryland on 1 June, saw a single-seat F/A-18E testbed perform a series of aerial manoeuvres while carrying the AARGM-ER so as to evaluate integration and structural characteristics of the destruction/suppression of enemy air-defences (DEAD/SEAD) air-to-surface missile.

“Test points were completed across a range of flight conditions to demonstrate carriage compatibility of AARGM-ER with the F/A-18 Super Hornet,” NAVAIR said.

As noted by Captain Mitch Commerford from the Direct and Time Sensitive Strike program office (PMA-242), this first flight represented “a significant step” in the current engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the missile system. “Data collected from this testing will inform the planned build-up and overall expansion of flight testing with AARGM-ER,” he said.

According to NAVAIR, testing will continue over the next few years in preparation for initial operational capability in fiscal year 2023.

The ARRGM-ER builds on the baseline AGM-88E AARGM, utilising the same sensors, warhead, and a modified version of its common control section attached to a new rocket motor and airframe.