Air Force starts process of replacing transponder module in AMRAAM air-combat missile
EGLIN AFB, Fla., 12 Sept. 2010. U.S. Air Force experts are beginning the process of replacing the transponder module in the telemetry section of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) with award of a $6.9 million contract Friday to Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz., to study replacement of the AMRAAM transponder module.
AMRAAM, first deployed in 1991, is a modern beyond visual range air-to-air missile that uses an on-board flight computer and inertial measurement unit to fly in the direction of its target before switching on its radar system for terminal guidance to the target. Raytheon Missile Systems is the AMRAAM manufacturer.
The missile can receive in-flight instructions from its host aircraft in flight, and in the presence of electronic jamming can be switched to home in on the jamming signal rather than the radar return of the target. The missile deployed in 1991 with Air Force F-15 jet fighter squadrons, and first deployed in 1993 U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter squadrons.
Awarding the contract are officials of the Air Force Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. For more information contact the Air Force Air Armament Center online at www.eglin.af.mil, or Raytheon Missile Systems at www.raytheon.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
