F/A-18F from VX-9 performed a demonstration flight with a full air-to-air combat load.
The US Navy continues to test its new missiles AIM-174B, based on the SM-6 naval air defense missile, on board a Super Hornet fighter. The VX-9 aircraft carries four AIM-174, three AIM-120 and two AIM-9X missiles.
A U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet from VX-9 "Vampires" was observed carrying a heavy air-to-air weapons loadout, including four AIM-174B, three AIM-120 and two AIM-9X missiles, as well as a targeting pod and an infrared search and track system mounted on an external ventral pylon.
The aircraft is the Vampires' flagship (squadron commander's aircraft), call sign "Vandy 1", which sports a black livery, specially painted for the unit's 30th anniversary to pay tribute to another squadron commander of the same call sign, the same livery worn by the F-4s and F-14s of VX-4's squadron commander, also known as "Vandy 1". The call sign comes from an abbreviation of the unit's official call sign, "Vanderbilt", used at the time.
F/A-18F "Vandy 1" of VX-9, loaded with four CATM-174B missiles, three CATM-120 missiles and two CATM-9X missiles.
As The Aviationist has reported in detail over the past few months, the AIM-174B is a variant of the Standard Missile (SM-6) designed for air-to-air missions. The SM-6 is a surface-to-air missile designed for use on Navy ships in conjunction with the Aegis combat system, and is also known as the RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), John Ridge September 11, 2024.
The idea of adapting the SM-6 for air-launch is not new, as the missile was previously spotted on the underwing pylons of VX-31 "Dust Devils" Super Hornets in 2018 and 2021. However, it was only earlier this year that testing gained momentum and operational units were brought into the fold.
In fact, after one F/A-18 was spotted in April with an SM-6 without a booster on its underwing pylon, it weapon then appeared on combat aircraft assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during exercise Rim of The Pacific 2024 (RIMPAC 2024) in July. The heaviest payload observed included two AIM-174 and two AIM-120 missiles.
The F/A-18F in the photo is reportedly loaded to the brim, and the load is the heaviest air-to-air payload to date with the new weapons, with AIM-174s on both the inboard and mid-wing hardpoints.
It is also interesting to note the presence of an ASG-34A IRST optical-electronic reconnaissance pod for air, surface and ground targets on the external ventral pylon, which acts as an additional sensor to the AN/APG-79 fire control radar in conditions of intense electronic attack or in an environment where there is no radar recognition. The total load in this configuration, excluding the PB, is more than 4 kg.
Another shot of the F/A-18F "Vandy 1" with heavy air-to-air weapons.
AIM-174B
The AIM-174 is an air-launched version of the legacy SM-2 naval SAM, the RIM-174 Extended Range Air Defense Missile (ERAM), a key element of the U.S. Navy's air defense strategy. Integrated into the Aegis combat system, the RIM-174 is primarily designed for long-range interception of airborne aerodynamic and limited ballistic targets, and can also be used for terminal missile defense and as an anti-ship missile.
In 2024, the SM-6's first official combat use occurred when the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the destroyer USS Carney intercepted and destroyed an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels in the Gulf of Aden on January 30, 2024.
The SM-6 SAM uses the airframe and cruise engine of the SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile, modernized with the installation of an active radar homing head instead of the semi-active one in the previous version, created on the basis of the homing head of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, as well as with the replacement of the conceptually outdated radio command correction system at the initial and middle sections of the flight path with the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) network correction system.
This missile can reach speeds of up to Mach 3,5 (1 m/s) at an altitude of 180 meters at the end of the active section of the trajectory (at the 100th second of flight, after which the speed only decreases) and has a maximum aerodynamic range of up to 30 nautical miles (200 km).
It is therefore unclear what the maximum range of the air-launched version might be: despite the lack of a booster, a high-speed, high-altitude launch would result in a significantly greater range than the ground- or ship-launched version.
With the introduction of the AIM-174B, the US Navy joins the top three aviation powers capable of creating and deploying ultra-long-range air-to-air missiles with the ability to hit air and other targets (initially, the ability to hit ground and surface optical and radio contrast targets) beyond line of sight (BVRAAM), such as the French MBDA Meteor, the Russian R-37M and the Chinese PL-15 and PL-21.
In effect, the AIM-174B allows U.S. Super Hornets to engage targets at much greater ranges than is currently possible with the AIM-120 AMRAAM. Integrated with the E-2D, F-35, and AEGIS as part of the Navy’s Integrated Fire Control and Air Countermeasures (NIFC-CA) system, the AIM-174B will enhance the Navy’s ability to intercept airborne targets at ranges comparable to (if not exceeding) those achieved against naval targets using the baseline SM-6 SAM.
Essentially, this new missile fills the gap left by the retirement of the AIM-54 Phoenix. The AIM-54 was a long-range air-to-air missile used by the U.S. Navy's F-14 Tomcat fighters that was retired in 2004 along with its F-14 carrier. Known for its impressive range of over 100 nautical miles and the ability to engage multiple targets (up to six), the AIM-54 left a significant gap in the U.S. Air Force's long-range air-to-air capability.
While there has been no direct replacement for the AIM-54 Phoenix in terms of range, the US military has been developing advanced air-to-air missiles to enhance the capabilities of its fighters. The AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) is one such development, intended to replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM. While the AIM-260 is not a direct replacement for the AIM-54 Phoenix, the development is aimed at increasing the range and effectiveness over the AIM-120.
F/A-18E of VFA-192 with two SM-6 air-launched missiles
Promptly deployed
The photo of the new weapon during a test flight in April 2024 was reportedly part of testing ahead of the AIM-174B's delivery to a squadron that will likely conduct operational test and evaluation (OT&E) - a phase of testing conducted on production or representative weapons to determine if the systems are operationally effective and suitable to support a full-rate production decision (FRP).
In July, the U.S. Navy acknowledged that the AIM-174 was operationally deployed, likely at initial operational capability (IOC) with the Super Hornet squadrons of CVW-2 aboard the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), according to Naval News. “The SM-6 Air Launch Configuration (ALC) was developed as part of the SM-6 missile family and is operationally deployed in the Navy today,” a Navy spokesman said.
While a Navy spokesman has acknowledged the existence and deployment of the new weapon, so far only the inert NAIM-174B, CATM-174B trainer, and DATM-174B land-based training variants have been observed mounted on aircraft. However, the fact that the Navy has mentioned the weapon being operationally deployed implies that armed versions of the missiles may also be delivered.
The Navy has not released other details about the AIM-174.
So far, it is known that the prototype SM-6 missile without the booster weighs 1 pounds ± 890 pounds (14 kg ± 857 kg), and this is probably the launch weight of the AIM-6B, the missile has a length of about 174 feet (21 meters) and a controlled flight range of 6,4 to 370 km.
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