F-15s fire AIM-120 missiles.
A U.S. Air Force F-15 with the latest version of the AIM-120D advanced medium-range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM) successfully shot down a BQM-167 unmanned target aircraft. Although the U.S. military did not specify the actual range, many reports say that the AIM-120D missile broke previous range records.
The Aviationist reports that according to an official statement from the U.S. Air Force, the weapon test, a joint exercise between the 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron and the 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron, was conducted by F-15s from Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, while the BQM-167 unmanned target aircraft was located in the Gulf of Mexico.
The AIM-120 debuted in the 1980s as a replacement for the AIM-7 semi-active Sparrow missile, featuring an active homing guidance capability to achieve “range indifference”. For some reason, the U.S. Air Force has not given the AIM-120 an official name, has been to the year the plan case “advanced medium-range air-to-air missile” to call, because the English acronym is AMRAAM, so the Chinese mainland translators will give the phonetic translation to “Amram air-to-air missile “, also quite tongue-twisting. Although there is no official name, but within the U.S. Air Force, there is an informal nickname, called Slammer, which means prison, or slammer.
The AIM-120 is an epoch-making improvement over the Sparrow. The AIM-120 has an active search radar that can detect targets on its own. In contrast, the Sparrow’s nose was only receptive, so the aircraft had to keep illuminating until it hit the target.
After the invention of the AIM-120, the U.S. Air Force and Navy, as well as allied warplanes, were able to strike enemy aircraft beyond visual range, accomplishing many combat successes. The earliest operational record of the AIM-120 was on December 27, 1992, when a two-seat F-16D shot down an Iraqi MiG-25 that had entered the southern restricted area.
As its name AMRAAM, it was originally a medium-range missile with a range of 50-65 km, but it has continued to improve over the decades, and by the latest AIM-120D, its range has reached more than 160 km, double that of earlier models, but it may still be inadequate.
Because including Russia and mainland China, all continue to evolve the range of their air-to-air missiles, including the mainland’s Thunderbolt-15 (PL-15), which is at least 4 meters long and may have a range of 200 km, and Russia’s R-37M, which may also have a range of 200~300 km.
European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy are also cooperating in the development of the Meteor Missile, which is an air-to-air missile with an inlet ram type and a range of more than 200 kilometers.
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