Air Force Looking For Cheap Air-To-Air Missile Half The Size Of AMRAAM
The Air Force is eyeing a pint-sized, extended-range, low-cost missile to arm Collaborative Combat Aircraft and crewed fighters.
Thomas Newdick
Published May 5, 2025 4:41 PM EDT
The U.S. Air Force is looking for a new air-to-air missile that will be relatively cheap, high speed, and small enough to arm its new Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones. The development comes as the U.S. military in general assesses its future requirements for air-to-air missiles, including a focus on smaller weapons for internal carriage, although this appears to be the first effort to include a specific requirement to arm CCAs.
A request for information (RFI) published on May 2nd by the Armament Directorate at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, provides details of what the Air Force is interested in. Specifically, the RFI is exploring industry potential for delivering a Low-Cost High-Speed Air-to-Air Missile, in two different sizes. One of these will have a form factor similar to the in-service AIM-120 AMRAAM “to provide a low-cost solution with maximum range.” This will be expected to arm the F-16 and F-15E and reflects the U.S. military’s wider ambition to field longer-range AAMs, especially in view of the threat posed by China in this regard.
More interesting, perhaps, is the second missile outlined in the RFI, which is also a low-cost weapon, but “at half the size of an AMRAAM, to double aircraft loadout while maximizing range in the design.” The reference to increased loadout speaks to another current concern, namely the ‘magazine depth’ of fighters, i.e., the relatively small number of AAMs they can carry, which may well fall short of requirements in a conflict with a more capable adversary.
https://www.twz.com/air/air-force-looking-for-cheap-air-to-air-missile-half-the-size-of-amraam
