The Air Force Plans To Test-Launch A Mysterious New Air-To-Air Missile
The previously unknown Modular Advanced Missile is the latest addition to a growing collection of in-development air dominance missiles.
BY THOMAS NEWDICK APRIL 4, 2022
THE WAR ZONE
Combat Archer F-22A RaptorU.S. AIR FORCE / MASTER SGT. MICHAEL AMMONS
Anew program appears to have been added to the relative flurry of activity in the field of next-generation air-to-air missiles, or AAMs, for the U.S. military. While very little is known about the Modular Advanced Missile, reference to which first appeared in a recent Air Force budget document, we now know that the weapon is an AAM and that there are plans to test-fire it from a fighter jet. The Modular Advanced Missile joins several other developmental AAM programs, most of which stress long-range capability, although at this stage we have no idea what range category this new weapon will fit into.
However, some important new details about the Modular Advanced Missile have been obtained by Steve Trimble, Aviation Week’s Defense Editor, and a friend of The War Zone. As well as confirming that the weapon is an AAM, these include the fact that “a kinematic demonstration from a fighter,” in other words, a live test launch, is planned at some point in the future.
The first reference to the Modular Advanced Missile came last week, when the Air Force Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation Appropriations (RDT&E) budget request for the 2023 Fiscal Year was published. You can read more about some of the key developments in the Pentagon’s budget request, worth $773 billion in total, here.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/45057/the-air-force-plans-to-test-launch-a-mystery-new-air-to-air-missile
