AIM-9X Block 2

Raytheon has unveiled a new capability for the AIM-9X. The missile has a ground attack capability with the Block 2 addition. A recent test had an F-15 in the Gulf of Mexico fire one at a cigarette boat. The missile went completely through the boat. There is speculation that the F-22 that crashed earlier this year was testing the Block 2 when it crashed.

Is the first block of the X version operational? I thought I heard about some being sold to a South american country.

By the way nice to see you again Zaph. It's been awhile eh.

Good grief. That's a nice feature if its fully realized. Imagine going from an air to air mission to an air to ground mission simply at the flick of a switch.

It makes sense though that this move would eventually happen though. Having multi-purpose weapons is invaluable since there are a limited number of hard points on an airframe.

My question though is to wonder how they guide it to the target. Cigarette boats don't exactly have a large radar signature when compared to a fighter plane at a few thousand feet up right?

IOC was in 2003, and they began full rate production in 2004.

As for the seeker it`s a passive infrared seeker. The carrier aircraft locks onto the target, but once launched the missile does the rest. As long as the cig boat is hotter than the ocean the -9X can see it.

Interesting how things have in a way came full circle. When the AIM-9 was being developed, the problem was that IR missiles were sometimes locking onto ground heat sources when that was not desired.

This is not new NWC China lake has a long history of building variants to this very good missile

Anti-tank variant

China Lake experimented with Sidewinder in the air-to-ground mode including use as an anti-tank weapon.

There was one variant during the Vietnam war that was made to home in on lights.
Head lights of trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

There is even a story of one of these that went after a flashlight in the hand of a NVA as he walked down the trail leading a company of NVA troops.
One of the troops was later captured and just wanted to know what type missile the US had for hunting people on foot.

There were a few north Vietnamese patrol boats that were hit by US carrier pilots that needed to expend there Sidewinders before returning to there carriers.

www.americanheritage.com...

Errr... was the cigarette boat an empty target, or a drug runner?

Congrats on the F-15 guys for actually having a mission!

reply to post by HatTrick
It was empty. I`ve also heard that an F-16 has fired at least one and hit an APC.