CDR Salamander - NAVAIR’s Counter-Air Gets Back in the Range Game

Back during the previous Cold War, we knew that range was life. We had a heavy fighter in the F-14 built around a beast (for its day) of an air-to-air missile, the AIM-54C Phoenix with its 99.4 nautical mile (nm) range.

A few years ago, we found a stopgap with a modified SM-6 called the AIM-174B Gunslinger, but it wasn’t quite what we needed in the long term—though it did get us 150+ nm.

Via Carter Johnson at Naval News:

The U.S. Navy’s newest air-to-air missile, the AIM-424 Malice…is capable of hitting targets over 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) away, leveraging a 13.5″ diameter and aerodynamic profile that appears to have been built for range. That range would exceed estimates of all currently known Chinese air-to-air missiles that have widely been recognized as major threats to U.S. airpower in the Pacific.

…and it has a proper name we can call it: “Malice”. Excellent.

The Navy’s official announcement couldn’t help itself.

“The Department of the Navy is developing the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM), a next-generation missile intended to strengthen fleet defense and maintain a decisive air-domain overmatch against advanced threats. Also known as Malice, the LRAAM directly supports the Department’s contribution to integrated deterrence by increasing range, lethality, and combat effectiveness for Marine and Naval Aviation forces that are defending our fleets, our interests, and our homeland. Further details regarding specific capabilities and deployment timelines remain classified to protect operational security.”

Bleh. Too many Bullsh1t Bingo words. And threw in an unpronounceable acronym. Someone keep the engineers away from communicating with humans, please.

Here’s the real sexy part.

The broad range of aircraft include the U.S. Air Force’s sixth-generation F-47 and the U.S. Navy’s F-35C, F/A-18, and potentially the F/A-XX. At least one captive-carry flight test was disclosed in the Navy’s image release, dating back to April 2026. A fit test on an F-35 appears to have been conducted earlier this month in August.

Internal carry, as per the pic.

Of course, I’m getting a bit greedy. I’d like to know if it has—in theory, of course—an anti-satellite capability. Can it be configured as an anti-radiation missile for SEAD? Can we adjust its programming so it can be used in an anti-surface mode?

I know, I know. Patience…patience…

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