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AIM-120 AMRAAM
Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air
Missile
F-16 Airforces main menu
Introduction
The AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air
to Air Missile) is a high-supersonic, day/night/all weather
Beyond Visual Range (BVR), fire-and-forget air-to-air
missile. It has a high-explosive warhead and relies on
active radar homing for the final stages of flight, being
launched on inertial mid-course guidance without the
need for the fighter to keep the target illuminated. Its
capabilities include look-down, shoot-down, multiple
launches against multiple targets, and intercepts at very
short range in dogfight situations.

the AIM-120 is used by a variety of Western fixed-wing

combat aircraft, and is a decisive factor in most ongoing
Middle East aircraft procurement programs. Unit cost is
about USD $386,000 (FY 1999).

History
In the mid-1970s, it was recognized that the AIM-7

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Sparrow would be in urgent need of replacement in the

1980s. Even the upgraded AIM-7F/7M was becoming
long in the tooth, and the AMRAAM program was
initiated in 1976. A joint USAF/USNavy program, it
aimed at producing a high performance air intercept
missile, featuring a higher probability of kill than any
conceivable advanced version of Sparrow, packed in a
smaller, lighter, cheaper, and more reliable airframe. On
top of that, the new missile had to be compatible with
existing fire control radars, and physically fit where a
Sparrow was previously located.

Ambitious research projects were started, to investigate

into all-new guidance and target-detection methods,
such as target classification by aerodynamic noise, laser
scanning of the external shape, or decomposition of the
engine sound harmonics in the frequency domain. None
of these techniques materialized however.

AIM-120 launch sequence by an USAF F-16A. (USAF photo)

The original list of five proposals was narrowed down to

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2 in February 1979. Both contractors received a contract

for ten prototype missiles each, which were to be fired
from F-14, F-15 and F-16 aircraft. At the end of 1981,
after only 6 missiles were fired (3 each), Hughes Aircraft
& Missile Systems Group was picked over Raytheon to
build 94 test missiles, with an option for 924 full
production missiles. The AMRAAM program entered
FSD (Full Scale Development) in September 1982, and
test firing of the missile started in that same year at
Holloman AFB and NAS Pt. Mugu, with the missile
proving itself against increasingly tougher targets. The
fact that no European counterpart for the AMRAAM
exists, is due to an MoU (Memorandum of
Understanding) signed by West Germany and the UK,
assigning AMRAAM to the USA and ASRAAM
(Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile) to Europe.
By 1985, AMRAAM was in serious trouble: huge cost
overruns and delays meant that not a single test round
was fired in a hostile ECM-environment until October
1986. By this time, some of the problems were solved
and low-rate initial production (LRIP) was approved for
FY 1987. Production is split (under Caesar's 'Devide
and Conquer' motto) between two contractors, Hughes
and Rate. Of the initial 180 missile, USD $537.4 million
(four times higher than estimated) order, Raytheon
produced 75 and Hughes 105 rounds. The subsequent
FY 1988 order for 630 missiles was split 55/45 with the
biggest share for Hughes. Continued LRIP was
approved in May 1991.

In September 1991, IOC (Initial Operational Capability)

was achieved for the AMRAAM on USAF F-15 aircraft.
The F-16 followed in January 1992, and the Navy in
October 1993. Full-rate production of the missile was
approved in April 1992, marking Milestone III.

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Construction
The AMRAAM is housed in a light-weight structure of
steel and titanium. The airframe is divided into four
major sections: guidance, warhead, propulsion and
control. The four wings and fins are detachable. The
guidance section features an active X-band radar
terminal seeker using a highpower solid-state
transmitter with a low-sidelobe, wide-gimbal antenna,
and a built-in radio-frequency processor. Navigation,
autopilot, radar, datalink, fuzing, sequencing, and self-
test functions are allhandled by a single 30MHz
microprocessor. The propulsion section consists of an
advanced solid-fuel rocket motor to achieve a speed of
Mach 4 and a range in excess of 30 miles.

Key to drawing:

1. Radome
2. Active Radar Antenna
3. Batteries/ Transmitter Section

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4. Main micro-electronics Section

5. Inertial Reference Unit, Target Detector and fuze
6. Armament section with warhead
7. Fixed forward wings
8. Igniter
9. Twin suspension lugs
10. Solid rocket motor
11. Control actuator group
12. Moving fins
13. Data Link (for mid-course guidance update)
14. Nozzle

In long-range engagements AMRAAM heads for the

target using inertial guidance and receives updated
target information via data link from the launch aircraft. It
transitions to a self-guiding terminal mode when the
target is within range of its own monopulse radar set,
operating in high-PRF mode. Since this seeker uses its
own active radar (unlike the Sparrow), it does not
require the launch aircraft to illuminate the target or to
track the target. In case the target tries to protect itself
with active jamming, AMRAAMs seeker switches to a
medium-PRF "home-on-jam" mode. With its
sophisticated avionics, high closing speed, and excellent
end-game maneuverability, chances of escape from
AMRAAM are minimal. Upon intercept an active-radar
proximity fuze detonates the 40-pound high-explosive
warhead to destroy the target. At closer ranges
AMRAAM guides itself all the way using its own radar,
freeing the launch aircraft to engage other targets. The
lethal range of the 40lbs. blast fragmentation warhead
has not been disclosed.

Versions
AIM-120A

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As described above.

AIM-120B, Rb 99
The AIM-120B missile was the result of the two block
AMRAAM Producibility Enhancement Program. The
B-model incorporates a new digital processor, erasable
programmable read only memory, and five major
electronic unit hardware chassis upgrades. The Swedish
AIM-120B's, carried by the 'Gripen', are designated as
Rb 99.

AIM-120C
The AIM-120C will include a redesigned warhead and
improvements to the rocket motor, fuzing logic, guidance
algorithms, and ECCM logic. Modified for internal
carriage on the F-22, the AIM-120C will have "clipped
wings" to reduce its box size from 17.4 to 12.5 inches.

F-16 Installation

A Shaw 79th Tiger FS (see markings on gunport cover) carrying dummy

wingtip AIM-120s, AIM-9L/Ms and AGM-88s. (F-16.net photo)

The APG-66 radar fitted to the F-16A/B was not

originally intended to have the capabilities of handling
BVR missiles such as the Sparrow or the AMRAAM.

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Indeed, the whole concept of the cheap, light-weight

fighter excluded fitting of SARH or ARH missiles.
However, the need for a BVR capability became
apparent soon after the F-16A/B entered service. The
long-term solution was to be the AMRAAM missile,
which was originally scheduled to enter service in the
mid-1980s, but was delayed by a protracted series of
developmental difficulties. Possible interim solutions
were considered, amongst others the British Aerospace
Skyflash or the Raytheon AIM-7 Sparrow. The first tests
of a Sparrow-armed F-16 were made by General
Dynamics with inert rounds attached to the wingtip, to
the underwing pylons, and even to a pylon being
attached to the mainwheel door. The undercarriage door
location was used for some test firings with the Sparrow
in November of 1977, and a test launch with a BAE
Skyflash was made a year later. Ultimately, F-16A/B
aircraft were modified into the F-16A/B ADF aircraft, and
were capable of firing the Sparrow.

This testfiring of an AIM-120 by an Eglin F-16C (39th FTS Squadron

Commanders aircraft) shows the typical diamond-shaped exhaust gasses.
(USAF photo)

When the MSIP Stage II was approved for the F-16,

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AMRAAM was far from ready. However, the associated

ECP350 (Engineering Change Proposal) included
changes to the wiring of the wings and aircraft structure,
so that the AIM-120 could be retrofitted easily later on.
block 10 introduced the stronger wing structure
necessary to carry the missile, the wiring and software
came later. Some Block 10 and 15's got retrofitted with
the software/wiring, but others didn't. So basically all
F-16s from Block 10 onwards are structurally AMRAAM-
capable, although some A/B models lack both the wiring
and the software, and although the C/D models have the
wiring, some of them do not have the necessary
software. The latter depends on whether the customer is
subject to export restrictions or not.

F-16 Loadout
On the F-16, AIM-120 AMRAAMs can be loaded on
stations 1 and 9 (1 missile each, wingtip), 2 & 8 (1
missile each) and 3 & 7 (1 missile each).

Operational Use

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The first-ever launched AIM-120 scored a direct hit agains the QF-102
drone (USAF photo)

The first ever fully guided AIM-120 to be fired, was fired

from an F-16 and scored an almost central hit on the
QF-102 target drone, which burst into flames and
crashed. The missile did not even carry a warhead.

A small number of AMRAAMs were carried by F-15

aircraft during Operation Desert Storm, though none
were actually fired. The AIM-120 was redeployed to the
Persian Gulf in 1992 for use on F-15 and F-16 fighters.
In December 1992 (Operation Southern Watch), an F-16
pilot fired the first AMRAAM in actual combat, shooting
down a MiG-25 Foxbat during a confrontation over

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southern Iraq. The AIM-120 was also used in another

engagement in Southern Iraq, and successfully downed
the target. The F-16 Fighting Falcon scored a third
AMRAAM kill in Bosnia.

Specifications
Primary Function: Air-to-air tactical missile
Contractor: Hughes Aircraft Co. and Raytheon Co.
Power Plant: High performance
Length: 143.9 inches (366cm)
Launch Weight: 335 pounds (150.75kg)
Diameter: 7 inches (17.78cm)
Wingspan: 20.7 inches (52.58cm)
Range: 30+ miles (48+ km)
Speed: Mach 4 capable Errors and Omissions
Guidance System: Active radar terminal/inertial
midcourse
Warhead: 40 lbs, Blast fragmentation
Unit Cost: $386,000 (FY 1999)

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