Raytheon AIM-424 Malice LRAAM

From DVIDS

U.S. Navy File Photo - Four AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM) are loaded on an F/A-18E Super Hornet for a test event. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to defeat advanced threats and defend the force.
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U.S. Navy File Photo - An AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) is mounted in the internal weapons bay of an F-35C with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) mounted on the weapon bay door. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to defeat advanced threats and defend the force.
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From Aviation Week:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2091308685146689765
View: https://x.com/beverstine/status/2091308685146689765
 

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Ainen said:
Dual band seeker? Visible on upper image.
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They've taped over something in that picture. Looks like electrical tape over some sort of aperture on the shiny silver section.

njiiaf said:
120->260->424. I hope they are better at developing missiles than they are at counting. (Please dont tell me 424 represents the range)
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I believe the irregular numbering sequence for these AAMs (AIM-260 and AIM-424) is a deliberate deception/obfuscation effort.
 
JetBrain said:
Cannot find the source.
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Comparing the size to the Aim-120 on the left, the Aim-424 looks closer to 250mm in diameter like an essm. I'm not super familiar with F-35 weapons bay dimensions, but doesn't 670mm wingspan seem a bit too large?
 
JetBrain said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2091328461466190184
View: https://x.com/i/status/2091328461466190184

Cannot find the source.
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AMRAAM for reference (from NAVAIR website) :
Propulsion: Solid-fuel rocket motor
Length: 12 feet
Diameter: 7 inches
Wingspan: AIM-120A/B, 21 inches; AIM-120C/D, 19 inches
Weight: AIM-120A/B/C/C-4/ 348 pounds; AIM-120C5/6/7, 356 pounds; AIM-120D, 358 pounds
quellish said:
Ok, we won’t.
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Damn, I was hoping it was the area code of the chief engineer's phone number....
 
AIM-424 is an anomalous tri-services designation, it should be AIM-191A instead. I wonder if @Andreas Parsch might share his observations concerning this anomaly.
 
HyFonic said:
Putting that absolutely disgusting designation aside. This does make the AIM-174B feel a bit redundant, maybe the 174 was a duplicate program to serve as a stop-gap measure or a backup?
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The 174B largely being just an air-launched SM-6 always just gave that impression as a stop gap.
 
Seragina said:
Looks like SM2 IIIUC just with different nose & strakes...
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It's a two-stage missile though. I suspect it separates just aft of the leading edge of the strakes, between the two forward-most marking bands. In any case, the upper stage is very small relative to the booster. And it doesn't seem to have aerodynamic control surfaces, so I'm betting on thrusters but not one-shots like in PAC-3. Think something more like the DACS in THAAD. And I'll bet that taped over spot is a side-looking sensor. Missile presumably flies and up-and-over trajectory, stages at very high altitude, then acquires the target and dives, using side thrusters for terminal steering.
 
TomS said:
It's a two-stage missile though. I suspect it separates just aft of the leading edge of the strakes, between the two forward-most marking bands. In any case, the upper stage is very small relative to the booster. And it doesn't seem to have aerodynamic control surfaces, so I'm betting on thrusters but not one-shots like in PAC-3. Think something more like the DACS in THAAD. And I'll bet that taped over spot is a side-looking sensor. Missile presumably flies and up-and-over trajectory, stages at very high altitude, then acquires the target and dives, using side thrusters for terminal steering.
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How probably is the electrical tape covering an IR sensor with the two-staged structure/kill vehicle allowing dual use as an ABM interceptor?
 
Wondering if LRAAM is a program name for this missile specifically, and therefore a legit name for it -- can it be called "the LRAAM", or is that term ambiguous between this and AIM-174b?

Would be very convenient to say this is LRAAM and Gunslinger is ERAM...
 
What’s on the wingtip rail of that SuperHornet? Or is that just an empty rail!?!

Also, loraine got her swerve back??
 
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I have a sneaky suspicion that this is a lofty ballistic missile that deploys a downward attacking KV, not a run of the mill AAM…
 
TomS said:
It's a two-stage missile though. I suspect it separates just aft of the leading edge of the strakes, between the two forward-most marking bands. In any case, the upper stage is very small relative to the booster. And it doesn't seem to have aerodynamic control surfaces, so I'm betting on thrusters but not one-shots like in PAC-3. Think something more like the DACS in THAAD. And I'll bet that taped over spot is a side-looking sensor. Missile presumably flies and up-and-over trajectory, stages at very high altitude, then acquires the target and dives, using side thrusters for terminal steering.
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I lean toward a shroud with a TSI beneath, but the length seems a bit too short? Or perhaps, it's only the unpowered TSI forebody?
 
I figured the AIM-174 might be something of an interim design pending something even more capable, but I was personally expecting something ramjet powered.
 

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