AMRAAM Joint Program Office completes second live firing of new AIM-120D-3

The Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) Joint Program Office (JPO) completed the second live-fire test of the new AIM-120D-3 variant AMRAAM over the US Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) Point Mugu Sea Test Range in California on May 12. An initial AIM-120D-3 live-fire test was conducted on 9 December 2020. AMRAAM is managed as a joint programme between the US Air Force (USAF) and US Navy (USN), with USAF as the lead service.

During the live-fire test, the AIM-120D-3 weapon was launched from a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet and flew the expected flight path over the Sea Test Range. “These first two live-fire shots were unguided missile shots to verify the missile’s auto pilot for aircraft safe separation and to prove out the new GPS-IMU [global positioning system-inertial measurement unit] navigation and control system,” a spokesperson from the Program Executive Office, Tactical Aircraft at US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) told Janes.

“Preliminary analysis provided by the prime contractor, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, indicates all primary and secondary objectives of the shot were met,” NAVAIR added in a release. “Together with the first shot on December 9, 2020, these shots represent a critical first in a series of developmental flight tests that provides crucial data to assess the missile’s ability to acquire, track, and guide to targets,” the command noted.

A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet multirole combat aircraft testbed launches an AIM-120D-3 AMRAAM variant over Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California on 12 May in the second live-fire test of the missile. ( US Navy)

Raytheon Missiles & Defense has referred all questions on the AIM-120D-3 development to NAVAIR, noting exclusively to Janes, “The F3R programme’s hardware and software upgrades will deliver additional capability [into AIM-120D-3] to address advanced threats.”