Still in the early stages of development, the future Advanced Anti-Radar Guided Missile makes its first Farnborough appearance as a full-size model beside the F/A-18 Hornet in the static park. AARGM is an ambitious American program to develop a long-range, ramjet-powered weapon to attack enemy ground radars, considerably improving on the AGM-122 Sidearm, which is essentially a Sidewinder short range air-to-air missile. AARGM is intended for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, with the option of internal carriage on next-generation machines.

Development of the AARGM is assigned to the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, with critical components supplied by SAT and Atlantic Research Corp. The dual-mode (broadband passive and MMW active) seeker is to be developed by SAT and tested initially on an AGM-88 HARM, the current medium range anti-radar weapon. ARC is to produce the ramjet motor which will give AARGM a speed of Mach 4 and range of 100 nmi.

Additionally, the missile will have inertial mid-course guidance coupled to GPS, enabling it to attack non-radiating radars as well as other targets.

There are no wings, instead the long ramjet air intakes providing a measure of lift. Four fins at the extreme rear of the missile pivot for guidance. Length is 12 feet, 9 inches; maximum body diameter 10 inches; and span across adjacent fins 24.5 inches.

By Paul Jackson