The U.S. military is working on a new air-to-air missile designed to maintain America's edge in air combat. The unnamed missile will replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM introduced in the 1980s and would target enemy aircraft beyond visual range. FlightGlobal broke the news today that the Pentagon is two years into development for the so-called long-range engagement weapon, or LREW.

Defense giant Raytheon has made steady improvements to the Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile, or AMRAAM, since the weapon was first fielded in the '80s. The latest version, AIM-120D, has a range of approximately 100 miles, GPS guidance, improved high-angle boresight capability, and a two-way datalink.

Despite these advances, AMRAAM cannot take full advantage of new technologies developed over the past 30 years. One new innovation in air-to-air warfare is putting an advanced electronically scanned array (AESA) radar in the nose of a missile, improving detection ability. Japan's F-2 fighter carries new AAM-4B air-to-air missiles with AESA radar seekers. Another innovation is the use of ramjets instead of rocket engines to provide propulsion. The UK's new Meteor air-to-air missile , which will equip the Royal Air Force's Typhoon fighters, uses ramjets and has a top speed of Mach 4, giving enemy pilots little time to react.

Meanwhile potential American adversaries China and Russia are racing the West to produce competitive missiles. These countries have few if any fifth-generation stealth fighters that can match America's best planes, but they are trying to make up for that by fielding missiles that can quickly detecting and destroy F-22s and F-35s. The Russian K-77M missile that will arm the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter has an AESA seeker, and China's PL-12D and PL-21 missiles will have ramjet propulsion and speeds of Mach 5.

The design analysis and engineering requirements for LREW were set to be completed last year, but the results are classified. As for the LREW's new features, ramjet power and an AESA seeker are at the top of the list. A range matching or exceeding the AIM-120D's is a must, as is the ability to for the missile to fit inside the F-22 and F-35 weapons bays.

Read more at FlightGlobal.

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