AIM-9X Successfully Completes First Guided Launch From F/A-18 Aircraft
LEXINGTON, Mass.---The AIM-9X Sidewinder short range air-to-air missile successfully completed its first guided launch by intercepting a QF-4 drone yesterday at the Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif. ; The launch, from a U.S. Navy F/A-18D fighter aircraft, was the first in a series of guided launches off F/A-18 and F-15 aircraft. The AIM-9X is under development by Raytheon Systems Company, a unit of Raytheon Company. ; The launch marked a significant milestone for the AIM-9X program as it was the first guided launch evaluating the ability of the missile's high off-boresight, infrared seeker to track a full-size target through launch, flyout, and intercept. In addition, data from the flight is essential to validating the high fidelity simulation being used to predict missile performance. ; "This successful AIM-9X intercept is a major step in providing the U.S. warfighter with the advanced short range missile required in today's lethal air-to-air engagements,'' said CAPT David Venlet, Program Manager Air-to-Air Missile Systems, PMA-259. ; The guided launches are taking place in parallel with a series of separation and control tests whose objectives are to clear the missile for launch through the aircraft's flight regime and demonstrate the missile advanced airframe incorporating jet vane control. AIM-9X has successfully completed two separation and control tests from the F/A-18 and most recently one from the F-15. Subsequent guided launches and separation tests off the U.S. Navy F/A-18 and U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft are scheduled throughout 1999. ; "This successful guided launch precisely demonstrates the technological advancements of the missile's IR seeker and high off-boresight performance and places the AIM-9X at the forefront of next generation air-to-air missile technology,'' said Chuck Anderson, Raytheon Systems Company Vice President for the Air-to-Air Missiles product line in Tucson, Ariz. ; The AIM-9X is a joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force program currently in engineering and manufacturing development. It is the newest member of the AIM-9 Sidewinder short range missile family currently in use by more than 40 nations throughout the world. ; Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense electronics, engineering and construction, and business and special mission aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves customers in more than 80 countries around the world.
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AIM-9X Successfully Completes First Guided Launch From F/A-18 Aircraft
