WASHINGTON — U.S. State Department officials approved a possible sale of AGM-88E2 Advanced Anti-Radar Guided Missile [AARGM] to Australia for approximately $ 94 million.
- Australia buys F-18’s anti-ship missiles for about $1 billion
- Australia received Cape-class patrol boat – .50 cal MGs, DGPS, VDR
- Australia adopted first 500lb high explosive warhead BLU-111 B/B
- Top 5 fastest active fighter jets in the world
In its June 21 notice to Congress about the potential sale, the Defense and Security Cooperation Agency [DSCA] said the deal involved work on:
- up to 15 AARGM missile control and guidance units;
- up to 15 rocket engines for high-speed anti-aircraft missiles [HARMs];
- up to 15 warheads on HARM missiles;
- up to 15 HARM missile control units.
Also included are tactical missiles AGM-88E2 All Up Round [AUR], AGM-88E2 Captive Air Training Missile [CATM], HARM G-Code AUR, HARM G-Code CATM, M-Code Global Positioning System [GPS] receivers M- Global Positioning System [GPS], containers, support, and test equipment.
Another part of the potential sale is the provision of testing services for EA-18G Growler products, spare and repair parts, as well as classified and unclassified software.
The potential purchase of AGM-88E2 products should complement the combat capabilities of the Royal Australian Air Force’s EA-18G Growler fleet.
About AGM-88E2
The AGM-88E2 is a variant of the AGM-88E Advanced Antiradiation Guided Missile [AARGM] missile, which is the successor to the AGM-88 HARM. While the AGM-88 HARM could not be considered a modern high-precision weapon, as they do not have a complete “friend or foe” recognition system, the AGM-88E is equipped with state-of-the-art software solutions for surface-to-air missiles, significantly improved capabilities for the improvement and even turn off the enemy radar.
AGM-88E AARGM is a joint development between Italy and the United States. The first tests of the missile were conducted in 2012 by the US Air Force with live firing, firing a total of 12 missiles in this class. The serial production of the AGM-88E AARGM began the same year, with the first quantities destined for Italy and the United States.
The AGM-88E AARGM is designed to improve the performance of HARM’s legacy variants against fixed and movable radar and communications objects, especially those that would be excluded to launch anti-radiation missiles, by attaching a new finder to an existing Mach 2-capable missile. engine and warhead section, adding a passive anti-radiation targeting receiver, satellite, and inertial navigation system, millimeter-wave radar for final targeting, and the ability to broadcast images of the target via satellite just seconds before impact.
The main characteristics of the missile are as follows: guidance system made of passive radar homing with home-on-jam, GPS / INS and millimeter-wave active radar homing, propulsion by a Thiokol SR113-TC-1 dual-thrust rocket engine, warhead WDU-21 / B blast/fragmentation in a WAU-7 / B warhead section, and later WDU-37 / B blast-fragmentation warhead, charge detonation by FMU-111 / B laser proximity fuze, range more than 111 km.
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