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BAe Australia delivers first ASRAAMS to the Australian Defence Force
;The first deliveries of the Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) missiles to the Australian Defence Force under Project AIR 5400 were made in mid-April by guided weapons company Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD), and its local partner British Aerospace Australia.
;The two dummy missiles, a unique variant designed for the ADF, are physically representative of the operational version and will be used in flight trials to demonstrate safe carriage of ASRAAM on RAAF F/A-18 aircraft.
;"This first hardware delivery is an important milestone for the program", said MBD Program Manager Andrew Calvert: "It demonstrates Matra BAe Dynamics' commitment to delivering ASRAAM to the ADF against an aggressive schedule dictated by the urgent need to meet the requirement to update the F/A-18's air-to-air weapons capability".
;The ASRAAM is the most advanced Within Visual Range missile in the world. It has been developed to meet a UK Ministry of Defence requirement for a fifth generation short-range missile to arm its Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The missile features a digital infrared camera to detect and track enemy aircraft, and a fast and agile airframe to ensure a high probability of intercept.
;ASRAAM is soon to enter service with the Royal Air Force, initially on Tornado and Harrier fighter jets. Australia is the first export customer for the missile and engineers from British Aerospace Australia are working with the MBD team as part of an industry alliance to build a support capability for ASRAAM in Australia.
;In a related activity, Matra BAe Dynamics and Defence Acquisition Organisation executives recently signed an innovative Partnering Agreement defining how they intend to work together to achieve the objectives of the ASRAAM program. This was followed by a Partnering Workshop attended by the management teams from both organisations, which was run in Cambridge, UK in conjunction with the first Contract Progress Review meeting.
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BAe Australia delivers first ASRAAMS to the Australian Defence Force