Taiwan, facing the prospect of an overwhelming Chinese surprise attack, is finally upgrading its SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) capabilities This includes purchasing the most modern HARM (High Speed Anti-Radiation) missile the US has availab
US Navy completes AARGM-ER STV flight on F/A-18 Super Hornet
19 May 2021
by Robin Hughes
The US Navy (USN) completed a milestone captive-carriage flight of an Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) Separation Test Vehicle (STV) on an F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet multirole combat aircraft at the Naval Air Warfare Center Atlantic Test Ranges in Patuxent River, Maryland, on 22 April.
Disclosed on 7 May, the STV flight marked the first time the AGM-88G AARGM-ER weapon system demonstrated its ability to communicate with the F/A-18 E/F platform. The flight was also conducted in support of the first AARGM-ER live-fire Flight Test Vehicle (FTV) event planned for the second quarter of this year at Point Mugu Sea Test Range in California.
By Greg Waldron2021-05-10T05:51:00+01:00
The US Navy has completed the first captive carry test of the Northrop Grumman AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) aboard a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet.
The work took place at the service’s flight test facility at Patuxent River, Maryland, according to the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). The first live firing of the AARGM-ER is expected “this spring”.
Source: US Navy
The F/A-18F AARGM-ER test involved a series of manouevers
The test demonstrated the weapon’s ability to communicate with the aircraft, as well as compatibility.
Navy Test Shows F/A-18 Aircraft and AARGM-ER Missile’s Seamless Communication 10 May 2021, 11:07 UTC ·
by 1 photo
The Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile – Extended Range (AARGM-ER) is the new missile that the Navy began developing in 2016, as an improved version of the existing AGM-88E AARGM, designed to have an extended range and to prove even greater efficiency and survivability.
As recently announced by the Navy, a new test involving the AARGM-ER and a F/A-18 Super Hornet was performed with great results, at the end of last month, at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. During the demonstration, an F/A-18 Super Hornet conducted a captive carry flight (a type of test where the missile does not separate from the carrier aircraft) with an AARGM-ER, for the first time.
F-35A Lightning II test aircraft assigned to the 31st Test Evaluation Squadron from Edwards Air Force Base, California, released AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-9X missiles at QF-16 targets during a live-fire test over an Air Force range in the Gulf of Mexico on June 12, 2018. The Joint Operational Test Team conducted the missions as part of Block 3F Initial Operational Test and Evaluation.