Raytheon Delivers 1,000th AIM-9X Sidewinder to U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force

Raytheon ^ | April 5, 2005 | Raytheon

[Righty_McRight]

TUCSON, Ariz., April 5, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company celebrated the delivery of the 1,000th AIM-9X to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force March 29. The event highlighted a production milestone to provide warfighters with unprecedented capability and air dominance in the battlespace.

"I am extremely proud of the AIM-9X team's accomplishments in the production and delivery of 1,000 AIM-9X next generation Sidewinder Missiles to the U.S. warfighter," said Capt. Scott Stewart, the Navy's program manager for Air-to-Air Missiles. "The ingenuity, dedication and expertise of this team has maintained and preserved the Sidewinder as the most formidable and lethal short range missile in the world today. Their passionate patriotism, total commitment to the warfighter, high standards of quality and staunch blue- collar work ethic are the hallmarks of a team that delivers on its promises."

"AIM-9X changes the rules of the dogfight through an advanced system design approach that matches software and computer processing capability," said Brock McCaman, Raytheon vice president of Air-to-Air. "The milestone we commemorate is part of the long tradition of innovation in the Sidewinder family of missiles and is the result of a partnership built on a shared mission of performance excellence."

The AIM-9X is a joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force program and is the newest member of the AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range missile family in use by more than 40 nations. It incorporates a fifth-generation staring focal plane array seeker for robust guidance performance and infrared countermeasures capability and jet vane control for extremely agile turning performance.

The AIM-9X's seeker has near instantaneous slew rates, and achieves extremely high off-boresight angles for threat acquisition and first shot opportunity in high clutter and infrared countermeasures environments and extreme agility for "first shot, first kill" dogfight air dominance. Pilots are no longer required to point the aircraft's nose at the target to employ this advanced weapon system.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

Contact:

Karen Rice

520.794.9494

SOURCE Raytheon Company

Web site: http://www.raytheon.com

[Righty_McRight]

The AIM-9X is the latest member of the AIM-9 Sidewinder short-range missile family currently in use by more than 40 nations around the world. It is a joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force program and was approved for full rate production in May 2004.

The AIM-9X program delivers evolutionary improvements to the AIM-9 series missile through revolutionary advancements. The result from leveraging an in-production seeker and a rich legacy of commitment to advanced technologies is a low-risk weapon that is affordable and lethal.

AIM-9X is a launch and leave, air combat missile that uses passive infrared (IR) energy for acquisition and tracking, which can be employed in near beyond visual range (NBVR) and within visual range (WVR) arenas. Complimented with the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), the warfighter has unparalleled offensive firepower compared to any other weapon system in the world.

It has extremely high off-boresight capability which gives a pilot first-shot, first-kill dominance. It provides greatly enhanced acquisition ranges in blue sky and clutter and IR countermeasures deliver the capacity to resist ever-changing threats. The AIM-9X has a highly agile airframe and its fifth-generation seeker and thrust vectoring control provide unprecedented performance.

AIM-9X, the next-generation Sidewinder missile, has truly changed the rules of air combat.

http://www.raytheon.com/products/static/node4725.html

[USNBandit]

The X is an amazing weapon. It truly lives up to the advertising. Combined with the Joint Helmet it is unmatched.

[Righty_McRight]

We may have to use it on China before the decade is out. So I really hope it is king of its niche.

[Better Dead Than Red]

What is perhaps most amazing is that this incredibly successful and effective weapon started out as the project of just one engineer at the China Lake weapons development center.

[ProudVet77]

That was a fast 1000. Approved in May 2004, and they already have 1000. It's a major asset, similar to the Python-5 that the Israelis have.
Our military is moving ahead at full steam. People moan and groan about holding off on a carrier for a year, but tools like this are far more important.

[texas booster]

I thought the the problem with the Sidewinder was range, that the Soviet Air-to-Air missle would drop our planes before we were within range.

Just how good is this new Joint Helmet?

[sd-joe]

>> "Complimented with the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM)"<<

[Squantos]

If ya get a chance this is an awesome read ..... I remember a article in the WSJ about the test where competitors brought test gear , instruments, hundreds of support folks etc etc .... Bill McLean asked to borrow a step ladder and a screw driver to present his AIM-9 prototype for evaluation.

http://www.sci.fi/~fta/sidewinder_book.htm

[Joe Miner]

China Lake

Well if he was single what else was there to do? Back in the 70's they wouldn't hire single guys no matter how smart you were. I guess they had too many go insane for lack of females.

[USNBandit]

The problem with the previous AIM-9M was a lack of High Off Bore-sight capability. The pilot basically had to come nose on to employ the weapon. High Off Bore-sight gives the pilot a better chance of getting off the first shot.

In layman's terms High Off Bore-sight means if the enemy is forward of your wing line all you have do is look at him and shoot. What used to be a neutral position in an engagement in now a shooting position.

Back in the 70's the need for high off bore-sight weapons was identified in the same white paper that recommended the formation of weapons schools and adversary units. The difference was that while we sat on our butts the Soviets built the AA-11 Archer with a helmet mounted sight.

The Joint Helmet incorporates much of the data normally projected in the HUD and projects it instead on the inside of the pilot's visor. This allows all the data to be available when the pilot is not looking forward. In addition to AIM-9X employment it can also be used to display radar contacts, ground targets, laser designations, etc. In the CAS environment target ID used to be one of the major challenges. Now if the target is designated by another aircraft or ground FAC the pilot can see the target designation in his visor without having to point the aircraft at the target.