U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are beginning full-scale development of a new and advanced radar-killing missile designed to enable U.S. jet fighter-bombers to suppress enemy air defenses preceding bomber attacks. Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced a $322.5 million contract in March to the Northrop Grumman Corp. Innovation Systems segment (formerly Orbital ATK) in Dulles, Va., for engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) of the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER). The AARGM-ER is an advanced and extended-range version of the High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). It is a new variant of the AGM-88E missile that equips Navy carrier-based fighter-bombers and electronic warfare jets.
