NAVY UNVEILS AIM-424 'MALICE' MISSILE
PHOTO CAPTION: “U.S. Navy File Photo - Four AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM) are loaded on an F/A-18E Super Hornet for a test event. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to defeat advanced threats and defend the force.” Source: U.S. Navy / DVIDS
The U.S. Navy has publicly revealed a new long-range air-to-air missile called AIM-424 “Malice,” a 1,500-pound weapon designed to give Navy and Marine Corps aviators the ability to engage airborne threats from more than 250 nautical miles away.
The missile was publicly unveiled Aug. 22 during the Tailhook Symposium in Reno, Nevada, as the Navy released an official fact file and previously unseen images of the weapon being tested on an F/A-18E Super Hornet and fitted inside the weapons bay of an F-35C.
Malice is officially designated the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile, or LRAAM. The Navy describes it as a next-generation weapon intended to strengthen fleet defense and give aviators greater reach, survivability and tactical flexibility against advanced airborne threats.
According to Navy specifications, the Raytheon-built missile is 13.5 feet long, 13.5 inches in diameter and has a 26.2-inch wingspan. It weighs approximately 1,500 pounds, uses a solid-propellant rocket motor and carries a blast-fragmentation warhead.
Its stated range is in excess of 250 nautical miles — roughly 288 statute miles.
The Navy says the missile is being designed for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft, potentially allowing the weapon to remain relevant as the service moves from current carrier-based fighters into its next generation of combat aircraft.
One Navy image released alongside the announcement shows four AIM-424 missiles loaded aboard an F/A-18E Super Hornet during a test event. That photograph was taken April 3 but was not publicly posted until Aug. 22.
Another image, taken Aug. 1 and released the same day as the announcement, shows an AIM-424 mounted inside the internal weapons bay of an F-35C Lightning II alongside an AIM-120 AMRAAM.
Internal carriage is particularly significant for a stealth fighter because it allows the aircraft to carry a weapon without hanging it externally beneath the wings or fuselage.
The AIM-424 has already undergone flight testing, according to reporting from Naval News, which said the program has been under development for significantly longer than its public unveiling suggests.
The Navy has not disclosed when Malice could become operational, how many missiles it expects to buy or several details about the weapon's performance. Officials have said additional information about its capabilities and deployment timeline remains classified for operational-security reasons.
The disclosure gives the public its first detailed look at another piece of the Navy's effort to extend the reach of carrier aviation against increasingly capable long-range threats.
And unlike many newly announced weapons programs, Malice is not simply a rendering or proposal. The Navy's newly released photographs show the missile already being carried by an F/A-18E and fitted aboard an F-35C.
Sources: U.S. Navy; Naval News
(Source: OAF Nation)
