“We need an analogue of the Russian R-37M”: in the USA, they thought about creating a new rocket
In September, Raytheon announced the development of the Peregrine project. An initiative is creating a family of missiles for promising fighters. In terms of combat characteristics, the new missiles will be close to the existing AIM-120, but they will be made more compact and light.
The main reason for the appearance of the Peregrine project is the limitations of fifth-generation fighters. They have internal arms bays of limited sizes. Fighter F-22 can carry 8 missiles on the internal suspension, F-35 - half as much. The Peregrine missile will be about half the size of AMRAAM, which will allow the F-22 and F-35 to carry solid ammunition from 16 and 8 products, respectively.
The Peregrine project was conceived on the initiative of Raytheon. The Pentagon, in turn, launched the AIM-260 project. It focuses on combat qualities, but not dimensions. The appearance of this project is due to the limited characteristics of the AIM-120 missiles and the emerging lag behind the foreign weapons.
The AIM-120C missile has a range of 105 km. The newer and more expensive AIM-120D flies, allegedly, on 180 km. Meanwhile, China has a PL-15 missile with a range of 200 km - as Chinese manufacturers themselves say. Russia has K-77 and P-37М missiles flying at 200 and 400 km, respectively. As a result, the US Air Force announced that they needed a new long-range or super-long-range missile - an analogue of Russian air-to-air weapons.
The situation is exacerbated by several additional factors. The R-37M rocket develops such a speed (expected - hypersonic) at which the attacked aircraft should respond as quickly as possible. New models are equipped with modern effective homing heads, increasing the likelihood of a successful defeat.
A retaliatory attack may be difficult. Russia and China are creating subtle and super-maneuverable fighters. The probability of effective destruction of such an aircraft by an AIM-120 rocket falls to an unacceptable level - the combat effectiveness of the Air Force is reduced.
The solution to the problem is seen in the AIM-260 rocket. It will be distinguished from AMRAAM by increased flight characteristics and a more advanced GOS. This will allow US fighters to effectively deal with the newest foreign aircraft carrying advanced missiles.
The Raytheon Peregrine, similar in its characteristics to the AIM-120, will also become the weapon of the fifth generation fighter. It can be used in battles with the air forces of developing countries, operating old-style equipment. In this context, the main advantage will not be the characteristics of the missiles, but their number on board the fighter.
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