Have a look at this US Navy state-of-the-art missile christened “Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range missile, or AARGM-ER.” This cutting-edge missile has been mounted on the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18F Super Hornet, which can be seen conquering the clouds at Point Mugu in California. The images of this avant-garde missile, taken by the photographer “Rick Kane,” surfaced over the internet and caught the eyes of users. However, as far as the authority of the aircraft is concerned, it comes under the scrutiny of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31), also known as the “Dust Devils.” The squadron is also positioned in California at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
Fanciful notions aside, the U.S. Navy has some plans regarding the missile in order to test its airworthiness. For this, the navy is looking forward to landing at the initial operational capability (IOC) stage in the coming year of 2023. However, as you can see in the pictures, the yellow band across the missile demonstrates the installation of the live warhead. Unlike other productive missiles, the AARGM-ER comes with a logo of a red and green color combination that is painted on the back side of its body. Have a look at the functioning of this missile in the video embedded below:
This super cool missile is still in its development process in terms of flight-testing capabilities. Needless to say, this bastion of advanced technology is the most updated one from the AGM-88 block and would offer more bang for the buck. This means that it is designed in such a way as to neutralize the radars of enemy aircrafts and implement the “zero in” approach on enemy emitters, which is somewhat similar to the functioning of radars incorporated into the air defense systems. Furthermore, this latest AARGM-ER has control fins that are mounted only at a single position, i.e., at the back of its body. Moreover, it comes with advanced airspeed and an optimized range as well.
The rocket motor has also been upgraded and is now able to strike targets at about 80 miles at a speed of Mach 2. The most important thing to note is that professionals are cooking up a way to embed this missile on the EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jet and its F-35C Joint Strike Fighters. Also, the flyover of the F/A-18F Super Hornet has been done with the collaboration of Northrop Grumman in order to conduct various flight tests of the missile over Point Mugu in California.
This AARGM-ER missile is introduced with more stealthy capabilities as compared to the older versions of the AGM-88 block and is definitely one of the standouts of the U.S. Navy to date.
