What units the AIM-424 aside is the intense vary with out the majority of the AIM-174B. The compact kind issue that matches contained in the F-35C’s weapons bay whereas nonetheless delivering over 250 nautical miles (463 km) of attain is an engineering breakthrough.
The US Navy sprang a shock over the weekend by unveiling a brand new long-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-424 “Malice,” whose vary exceeds that of the AIM-174B Gunslinger—the earlier longest-range air-to-air weapon within the Navy’s stock.
The US Navy launched a picture of the missile exhibiting an F/A-18E/F Tremendous Hornet of Navy Air Check and Analysis Squadron 23 (VX-23) outfitted with 4 of the weapons. The picture was taken in April 2026, suggesting the weapon has been underneath testing for a while.
In the meantime, a separate picture printed by the service confirmed the missile inside the inner weapons bay of an F-35C carrier-capable plane.
“The Division of the Navy is growing the AIM-424 Lengthy Vary Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM), a next-generation missile supposed to strengthen fleet protection and preserve a decisive air-domain overmatch in opposition to superior threats,” the US Navy mentioned in a statement. “The LRAAM instantly helps the Division’s contribution to built-in deterrence by growing vary, lethality, and fight effectiveness for Marine and Naval Aviation forces which can be defending our fleets, our pursuits, and our homeland.”
“LRAAM sustains the Division’s first-look, first-shot, first-kill benefit by offering our aviators with larger attain, larger survivability, and larger tactical flexibility within the air-to-air struggle. Constructed for 4th, Fifth, and Sixth technology platforms, LRAAM is designed for the air wing of immediately and the long run,” the service additional emphasised.
The AIM-424 Malice might be outfitted on the US Navy’s major fighters, together with the F/A-18E/F Tremendous Hornets, the F-35C, and the sixth-generation F/A-XX fighter.
Notably, the F/A-XX program continues to be awaiting contractor choice, which means the service has superior the munition forward of the platform that may carry it. Nonetheless, the missile continues to be underneath testing, and the US Navy has not disclosed when it can enter service.
The AIM-424 is the second long-range air-to-air missile the Navy has publicly highlighted in as a few years, following the AIM-174B Gunslinger, which was unveiled in July 2024. The AIM-174B missile is the air-launched model of the SM-6 missile carried by the Tremendous Hornet and has a baseline vary of about 130-150 nautical miles (about 240 to 280 kilometers).
Whereas the AIM-174B was, till now, handled because the longest-range air-to-air missile within the USN’s arsenal, the revealing of the AIM-424 Malice has modified that.
Developed by Raytheon, the AIM-424 has a variety of about 250 nautical miles, or 463 kilometers, in response to the latest update from the US Navy.
The AIM-424 can also be extra compact than the AIM-174B. It measures 13.5 ft (4.11 meters) in size, 13.5 inches (0.34 meters) in diameter, has a wingspan of 26.2 inches (0.67 meters), and weighs 1,500 kilos (680.4 kilograms). In distinction, the AIM-174B is 16.5 ft (5.03 meters) lengthy, shares the identical 13.5-inch diameter, has a a lot bigger 42.7-inch (1.08-meter) wingspan, and weighs roughly 1,830 kilos (830 kilograms).
Due to its smaller measurement, the missile may be carried contained in the F-35C and the F/A-XX, preserving the plane’s stealth options, that are important for breaking by superior built-in air protection programs (IADS) and interesting beneficial targets at larger distances with out risking early detection by the enemy.
The truth is, observers have assessed that the AIM-174B might have been constructed as an interim answer till a longer-range, smaller-sized missile just like the Malice was prepared.
“If Raytheon has managed to retain the confirmed Mk 104 twin thrust rocket motor from SM-6 and the AIM-174, that mixture alone should purchase an actual leap in efficiency. Which makes it pretty clear the AIM-174B was the interim ‘get it into service now’ reply whereas Raytheon and the Navy quietly labored on a correctly optimized long-range weapon for 4th-, Fifth-, and Sixth-gen. fighters, a distinguished nationwide safety and protection evaluation account, Air-Energy I NatSec Ledger, wrote on X.
The AIM-424 additionally outranges the secretive AIM-260 Joint Superior Tactical Missile (JATM), which is estimated to achieve roughly (or greater than) 120 miles (193 kilometers). This primarily positions the Malice because the Pentagon’s longest-range air-to-air missile at present acknowledged in public sources.
Extra importantly, although, the AIM-424 seems to be a counter to the Chinese language PL-17, which has a variety of about 400 kilometers, and the Russian R-37M, which has a variety between 300 and 400 kilometers.
The Pentagon has expressed curiosity in multi-stage, extraordinarily long-range air-to-air missiles on a number of events. It continues to refine ideas such because the Air Drive Lengthy Vary Weapon (AFLRW), which envisions an air-to-air missile with a variety of round 1,000 nautical miles (1,850 kilometers) to enhance long-range missiles such because the AIM-424 Malice.
“Malice isn’t nearly vary — it’s about rewriting the dynamics of the air battle. By arming Tremendous Hornets and F-35Cs with the weapons to focus on “high-value” plane from over 250 nautical miles, we drive the adversary to function farther from our carriers,” a Navy official advised EurAsian Occasions on situation of anonymity.
US Wants Lengthy-Vary Missiles Towards China?
The US prioritizes long-range air-to-air missiles primarily due to the geography and army stability within the Western Pacific in opposition to China. Analysts imagine sustained tensions in two important Indo-Pacific hotspots, together with the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, have elevated the probability of battle between the US and China.
This additionally signifies that any such battle would happen hundreds of kilometers from the US mainland and lots of of kilometers from the closest main US bases, giving China a home-field benefit. Subsequently, US provider strike teams would want to function at prolonged ranges to stay outdoors the densest Chinese language missile protection, requiring weapons able to reaching far past the launching plane.
For this reason the US wants long-range air-to-air missiles.
The AIM-424 will assist prolong the US “first-look, first-shot, first-kill” benefit in high-end air fight, notably in opposition to Chinese language Folks’s Liberation Military (PLA) forces.
With long-range missiles such because the Malice, US fighters can interact high-value targets, together with fighters, bombers, early-warning platforms, and tankers, from past the efficient vary of many enemy air-to-air and surface-to-air threats. This may bolster strike potential while enhancing the survivability of each the shooters and the provider strike group or expeditionary drive that they’re deployed to guard in a battle.
For the reason that missile may be carried internally, a stealthy platform just like the F-35C may successfully penetrate the formidable Chinese language A2/AD, no less than in concept.
To maintain US forces at a distance, China has purposefully developed a fancy anti-access/area-denial plan. This consists of subtle fighters just like the J-20, outfitted with extraordinarily long-range air-to-air missiles such because the PL-15 and PL-17; long-range anti-ship and surface-to-surface ballistic and cruise missiles; and a dense built-in air protection community backed by airborne early warning plane. These programs are designed to hazard beneficial aerial belongings obligatory for ongoing US operations.
With out the power to push Chinese language plane and sensors farther again, American carriers and fighters grow to be considerably extra weak. Subsequently, utilizing AIM-424 and different long-range missiles would assist create a “defensive bubble,” as hostile plane that try to launch anti-ship missiles or conduct different assaults on naval forces may be engaged earlier, lowering the menace to floor ships in battle.
It could doubtlessly assist counter the anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) problem by pushing the air battle farther from US forces. Longer attain, nonetheless, normally offers aviators extra choices, equivalent to supporting wider networked operations, forcing adversaries into unfavorable geometries, and taking pictures from safer distances.
The US Navy explicitly frames Malice as strengthening fleet protection, growing vary, lethality, fight effectiveness, and supporting “built-in deterrence.”
America wants these missiles as a result of China’s mixture of geography, long-range strike programs, and superior air-to-air weapons makes shorter-range munitions inadequate for shielding carriers, bases, and supporting plane within the Western Pacific within the occasion of a battle. The testing and future integration of the AIM-424 is, subsequently, a welcome addition to a war-ready arsenal.
