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37-595: The AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile ( JATM ) is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) under development by Lockheed Martin . Designed to address advanced threats, the missile is expected to replace or supplement the AIM-120 AMRAAM currently in US service. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) considers the AIM-260A JATM program to be the number one air-delivered weapon priority for both

74-545: A laser-guided bomb homes in on the reflected laser radiation. Some of the longest-range missiles in use today still use this technology. An AIM-7 variant called Sparrow II was the first attempt at producing a semi-active radar homing missile, however the first air-to-air missile to introduce a terminal active seeker operationally was the AIM-54 Phoenix carried by the F-14 Tomcat, which entered service in 1972. This relieved

111-723: A decrease in the U.S. Air Force's fleet of F-22s due to the increase in combat effectiveness. The exact range of the JATM is classified, as is that of its predecessor the AIM-120D-3 variant of the AMRAAM, but defense analysts expect it to outrange the AIM-120D-3 with a range of at least 100+ miles. According to defense editor Steve Trimble of Aviation Week , "We've seen charts for the Air Force range requirements for Eglin Air Force Base showing circles for

148-484: A fault prevents datalink self-destruct signals when a missile is heading in the wrong direction. Most coastlines are heavily populated, so this risk exists at test centers for sea-based systems that are near the coastlines: The combat record of U.S. SARH missiles was unimpressive during the Vietnam War . USAF and US Navy fighters armed with AIM-7 Sparrow attained a success rate of barely 10%, which tended to amplify

185-439: A result, most BVR missiles are fired at visual range. Western airforces only scored 4 BVR kills out of 528 kills made during 1965–1982; most kills during that period were made with guns or WVR missiles ( AIM-9 Sidewinder ). The increased success rate of BVR combat during 1991 Gulf War may have significantly depended on other factors, such as assistance of AWACS , NCTR system of F-15Cs , as well as enemy incompetence. None of

222-403: A semi-active radar homing missile launch is Fox One . The basic concept of SARH is that since almost all detection and tracking systems consist of a radar system, duplicating this hardware on the missile itself is redundant. The weight of a transmitter reduces the range of any flying object, so passive systems have greater reach. In addition, the resolution of a radar is strongly related to

259-460: A wider pattern. Modern SARH systems use continuous-wave radar (CW radar) for guidance. Even though most modern fighter radars are pulse Doppler sets, most have a CW function to guide radar missiles. A few Soviet aircraft, such as some versions of the MiG-23 and MiG-27 , used an auxiliary guidance pod or aerial to provide a CW signal. The Vympel R-33 AA missile for MiG-31 interceptor uses SARH as

296-401: Is set after the target is acquired by the missile seeker using the spectrum location set using closing speed. The missile seeker antenna is a monopulse radar receiver that produces angle error measurements using that fixed position. Flight path is controlled by producing navigation input to the steering system (tail fins or gimbaled rocket) using angle errors produced by the antenna. This steers

333-517: Is the missile used the radiation produced by the launching aircraft to guide it to the target. The latest generation of BVR missiles use a combination of semi-active and active radar. The first such missiles were relatively simple beam riding designs. The Sparrow 1 mounted on the US Navy's Skyknight became the first operational BVR missile in 1954. These primitive BVR missiles were soon replaced by missiles using semi-active radar homing (SARH). This

370-477: Is where the launching aircraft's radar is "locked" onto the target in a single target track (STT) mode, directing radar energy at the target that the missile seeker can "see" as it reflects off the target. The radar antenna must "illuminate" the target until impact. Missiles like the Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow and Vympel R-27 ( NATO designation AA-10 'Alamo') home in on the reflected radiation, much as

407-466: The AIM-260 was slated to begin in summer of 2023. Related lists Beyond-visual-range missile In addition to the range capability, the missile must also be capable of tracking its target at this range or of acquiring the target in flight. Systems in which a mid-course correction is transmitted to the missile have been used. Early air-to-air missiles used semi-active radar homing guidance, that

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444-677: The Air Force Frank Kendall told the Senate Armed Services Committee that JATM will "hopefully" enter production this year, as well as confirming that the JATM is expected to arm the Air Force's upcoming unmanned Collaborative Combat Aircraft . According to Air Force Major Kevin Autrey, the lead F-22 Raptor operational test pilot with the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, live-fire testing of

481-479: The Chinese PL-15 . Full scale aerial target testing for the JATM was confirmed to have started as early as April 2020, and testing in general for the missile is currently ongoing. It is yet to achieve initial operational capability (IOC). The AIM-260 production is expected to overtake AIM-120 production by 2026. Development of the missile has been highly classified ; it is a Special Access Program . In FY 2020,

518-475: The Iraqi pilots took any evasive measures, either because of poor training or their radar warning receivers malfunctioned. One major issue with BVR is still unreliable IFF technology ( Identification friend or foe ). However, new generation engines such as  ramjet , along with the latest sensors such as  active radar , increase the hit probability of the latest BVR missiles, such as Meteor , and also increase

555-628: The Sparrow at beyond visual range . Similar performance has been achieved with the sea-launched RIM-7 Sea Sparrow . Soviet systems using SARH have achieved a number of notable successes, notably in the Yom Kippur War , where 2K12 Kub (NATO name SA-6) tactical SAM systems were able to effectively deny airspace to the Israeli Air Force . A 2K12 also shot down a U.S. F-16 in the Bosnian War. SARH

592-703: The U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the Navy (USN); and its acquisition out-prioritizes other weapon system improvements and modernization efforts on any fielded aircraft. As of May 2024, the House Armed Services Committee was investigating whether more late-variant AMRAAMs would be required in light of the AIM-260 JATM not having entered full-scale production, though the USAF insisted in May 2023 that AIM-260 development and production

629-512: The U.S. Air Force appropriated $ 6.5m for the construction of a custom storage vault at Hill AFB specifically for the JATM, citing the classified nature of the program. In November 2021, it was revealed that the missile will have similar dimensions to the AIM-120 in order to ensure maximum compatibility with prior launch platform technology. This would ensure compatibility with the F-22 which would allow for

666-530: The beam riding system is not accurate at long ranges, while SARH is largely independent of range and grows more accurate as it approaches the target, or the source of the reflected signal it listens for. Reduced accuracy means the missile must use a very large warhead to be effective (i.e.: nuclear). Another requirement is that a beam riding system must accurately track the target at high speeds, typically requiring one radar for tracking and another "tighter" beam for guidance. The SARH system needs only one radar set to

703-484: The body of the missile to hold the target near the centerline of the antenna while the antenna is held in a fixed position. The offset angle geometry is determined by flight dynamics using missile speed, target speed, and separation distance. Techniques are nearly identical using jamming signals , optical guidance video, and infra-red radiation for homing. Maximum range is increased in SARH systems using navigation data in

740-420: The effect of removing the gun on most F-4 Phantoms , which carried 4 Sparrows. While some of the failures were attributable to mechanical failure of 1960s-era electronics, which could be disturbed by pulling a cart over uneven pavement, or pilot error; the intrinsic accuracy of these weapons was low relative to Sidewinder and guns. Since Desert Storm , most F-15 Eagle combat victories have been scored with

777-535: The final attack. This can keep the target from realising it is under attack until shortly before the missile strikes. Since the missile only requires guidance during the terminal phase, each radar emitter can be used to engage more targets. Some of these weapons, like the SM-2, allow the firing platform to update the missile with mid-course updates via datalink . Some of the more effective methods used to defeat semi-active homing radar are flying techniques. These depend upon

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814-453: The homing vehicle to increase the travel distance before antenna tracking is needed for terminal guidance. Navigation relies on acceleration data , gyroscopic data , and global positioning data . This maximizes distance by minimizing corrective maneuvers that waste flight energy. Contrast this with beam riding systems, like the RIM-8 Talos , in which the radar is pointed at the target and

851-909: The initial guidance and then passive infra-red guidance for the final stage. This type of missile requires active guidance for a longer part of the flight than fire-and-forget missiles but will still guide to the target even if radar lock is broken in the crucial final seconds of the engagement and may be harder to spoof with chaff due to the dual-type guidance. The efficiency of BVR air-to-air missiles has been criticized. A 2005 paper by USAF officer Patrick Higby showed that BVR missiles fell short of expected performance, despite incurring great cost. Because such missiles required large radars, they made aircraft heavier and increased drag, increasing aircraft procurement and operating costs. Fighters with BVR tended to be less agile than previous ones. Fighter pilots have been reluctant to use BVR missiles at BVR range because of difficulty in distinguishing friends and foes. As

888-453: The launch aircraft vulnerable to counterattack, as well as giving the target's electronic warning systems time to detect the attack and engage countermeasures. Because most SARH missiles require guidance during their entire flight, older radars are limited to one target per radar emitter at a time. The maximum range of a SARH system is determined by energy density of the transmitter. Increasing transmit power can increase energy density. Reducing

925-733: The launch platform of the need to illuminate the target until impact, putting it at risk. The Phoenix and its associated Tomcat radar, the AWG-9 was capable of multiple track and launch capability, which was unique to the Tomcat/Phoenix until the advent of AMRAAM in 1991. Newer fire-and-forget type missiles like the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Russian R-77 ( NATO reporting name AA-12 "Adder") instead use an inertial navigation system (INS) combined with initial target information from

962-511: The launch platform's transmitted signal as a reference, enabling it to avoid some kinds of radar jamming distractions offered by the target. The SARH system determines the closing velocity using the flight path geometry shown in Figure 1. The closing velocity is used to set the frequency location for the CW receive signal shown at the bottom of the diagram (spectrum). Antenna offset angle of the missile antenna

999-451: The launching aircraft and updates from a one or two-way data link in order to launch beyond visual range, and then switch to a terminal homing mode, typically active radar guidance . These types of missiles have the advantage of not requiring the launching aircraft to illuminate the target with radar energy for the entire flight of the missile, and in fact do not require a radar lock to launch at all, only target tracking information. This gives

1036-399: The main type of guidance (with supplement of inertial guidance on initial stage). SARH missiles require tracking radar to acquire the target, and a more narrowly focused illuminator radar to "light up" the target in order for the missile to lock on to the radar return reflected off target. The target must remain illuminated for the entire duration of the missile's flight. This could leave

1073-419: The missile keeps itself centered in the beam by listening to the signal at the rear of the missile body. In the SARH system the missile listens for the reflected signal at the nose, and is still responsible for providing some sort of "lead" guidance. The disadvantages of beam riding are twofold: One is that a radar signal is "fan shaped", growing larger, and therefore less accurate, with distance. This means that

1110-445: The most common type for longer-range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile systems. The name refers to the fact that the missile itself is only a passive detector of a radar signal — provided by an external ("offboard") source—as it reflects off the target (in contrast to active radar homing , which uses an active radar transceiver ). Semi-active missile systems use bistatic continuous-wave radar . The NATO brevity code for

1147-579: The noise bandwidth of the transmitter can also increase energy density. Spectral density matched to the receive radar detection bandwidth is the limiting factor for maximum range. Recent-generation SARH weapons have superior electronic counter-countermeasure ( ECCM ) capability, but the system still has fundamental limitations. Some newer missiles, such as the SM-2 , incorporate terminal semi-active radar homing (TSARH). TSARH missiles use inertial guidance for most of their flight, only activating their SARH system for

AIM-260 JATM - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-433: The physical size of the antenna, and in the small nose cone of a missile there isn't enough room to provide the sort of accuracy needed for guidance. Instead the larger radar dish on the ground or launch aircraft will provide the needed signal and tracking logic, and the missile simply has to listen to the signal reflected from the target and point itself in the right direction. Additionally, the missile will listen rearward to

1221-414: The pilot knowing that a missile has been launched. The global positioning system allows a missile to reach the predicted intercept with no datalink, greatly increasing lethality by postponing illumination for most of the missile flight. The pilot is unaware that a launch has occurred, so flying techniques become almost irrelevant. One difficulty is testing, because this feature creates public safety risks if

1258-486: The range. In 2015, United States Naval Air Forces commander Vice Admiral Mike Shoemaker cited the sensor fusion of the fifth-generation jet fighter Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II as the way to "bring that long-range ID capability and then share that information" with other platforms. Semi-active radar homing Semi-active radar homing ( SARH ) is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps

1295-512: The target less warning that a missile has been launched and also allows the launching aircraft to turn away once the missile is in its terminal homing phase or engage other aircraft. The very longest-range missiles like the Hughes (now Raytheon) AIM-54 Phoenix missile and Vympel manufactured R-33 (NATO designation AA-9 "Amos") use this technique also. Some variants of the Vympel R-27 use SARH for

1332-474: The test area for AMRAAM and the test area for the JATM [...] the AIM-260 missile has a range circle that's roughly double the size of the AMRAAM circle." RTX has suggested that with the range enhancements of the AIM-120D-3, it would serve as a compliment to the JATM; the JATM would be an expense "kick-the-door-down" weapon while the AMRAAM D3 would be a more affordable capacity missile. On May 2, 2023, Secretary of

1369-797: Was on-schedule. This program differs from the Long-Range Engagement Weapon being developed by Raytheon . The JATM is also separate from the AIM-174 very long-range AAM, also developed by Raytheon for the USN. Initial launch platforms were expected to be, and currently are, the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor and the U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornet , with integration with the F-35 Lightning II and F-15EX Eagle II being planned afterward. The AIM-260 program began in 2017 in response to long-range missiles developed by potential adversaries, specifically

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