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At approximately 18.43hrs local time on June 18, a US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet operating over Syria shot down a Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) Su-22M4 ‘Fitter’ fighter-bomber near Tabqah, Syria. The F/A-18E (reported as BuNo 168914/AJ304) was assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 87 ‘Golden Warriors’ (also known as ‘War Party’), which is assigned to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8. Its pilot engaged the ‘Fitter’ and initially fired an AIM-9X Sidewinder close-range heat-seeking missile from a range of about half a mile, which was defeated by flares launched by the Su-22 pilot. The Super Hornet then re-engaged and fired...

The USAF is quick to tout that the F-22 Raptor fleet has been finally upgraded to use the AIM-9X Sidewinder—a long awaited move that will allow the most advanced air superiority fighter in the world to ditch the relatively ancient AIM-9M version of the iconic short-range air-to-air missile. But even with this new capability, F-22 pilots still lack a helmet mounted display (HMD) to take advantage of the missile's high-off boresight (HOBS) abilities, and there doesn't seem to be much talk about fixing this long standing deficiency in the near term. You can read all about the F-22's short-range missile...

90th Fighter Squadron is the first F-22 Raptor combat unit equipped with the AIM-9X dogfight missile. On Mar. 1, 2016 the 90th Fighter Squadron (FS) belonging to the 3rd Wing stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska officially became the first combat-operational Raptor unit to equip an F-22 with the AIM-9X Sidewinder. According to Chief Master Sgt. Chuck Jenkins, 3rd Wing Weapons Manager, the AIM-9X will increase the already outstanding Raptor’s combat capabilities. “This has been in the inventory for the Air Force and Navy for some years; it’s nothing new to the military, but to put it on the Ferrari...

When the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, the newly independent states within its former domain inherited enormous stockpiles of weapons the Red Army left behind. One of the most interesting cases involved the air force of the tiny former Soviet republic of Moldova. The new republic’s inventory consisted of 34 MiG-29 Fulcrums, eight Mi-8 Hip helicopters and a handful of transport aircraft — a sizeable force for such a small state. To put Moldova’s size into perspective, the country’s population is smaller than the metro area of Portland, Oregon. Moldova couldn’t afford to maintain the fleet and, to make...

34 years ago, the USAF set out to build a fighter that could guarantee American air superiority for decades to come. $75B, 563 less aircraft than planned, and a decade after being declared operational later, the F-22 still doesn’t have what some MiG-21s have, a Helmet Mounted Sight and a missile to go with it. Helmet Mounted Sights (HMS) and High-Off Bore-Sight (HOBS) short-range air-to-air missiles have been around for a long, long time. Helmet Mounted Sights, in their most basic form, allow pilots to just look at their target in order to slew their weapons onto it and engage...

US Air Force's 411th Flight Test Squadron and F-22 Combined Test Force successfully test fired two guided AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles this year as part of the latest phase in getting the Raptor closer to using the missile operationally. The AIM-9X is an advanced infrared missile and the newest of the Sidewinder family of short-range air-to-air missiles carried on a wide range of fighter jets. The first guided launch of the AIM-9X from an F-22 Raptor was Feb. 26, 2015, by Maj. Christopher Guarente, 411th FLTS assistant director of operations and F-22 test pilot (Credit: Lockheed Martin) The first guided launch...

FMS: United Arab Emirates Requests 218 AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II Air-to-Air Missiles News >> Missiles & Munitions >> Sales & Contracts Released on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 United Arab Emirates � AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER Missiles WASHINGTON, April 19, 2011 � The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress Monday of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of the United Arab Emirates of 218 AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER Block II Tactical Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support for an estimated cost of $251 million. The Government of the United Arab Emirates has requested a possible sale of 218 AIM-9X-2 SIDEWINDER...

Sidewinder The missile that has rattled enemy pilots since 1958. By Preston Lerner Air & Space Magazine, November 01, 2010 May 1956. Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, New Mexico. The preflight briefing took place in the office of the base’s commanding general, but the center of attention was a cocky young Navy pilot named Glenn Tierney. He was dead certain that he was about to win a shoot-off between two weapons competing to become the United States’ first self-guided air-to-air missile. The Air Force was betting on the radar-guided Falcon, built by a vast engineering group at Hughes Aircraft. Representing...

Two years ago, the U.S. Air Force asked the manufacturer of the AIM-7X Sidewinder air-to-air missile if the weapon could be adapted to hit ground targets (including armored vehicles and speedboats). The manufacturer got to work and, recently, conducted several successful of the modified AIM-7X. The mods apparently were mainly in the fire control software, and the details are being kept secret. The AIM-7 is a heat seeking missile, and the heat sensors have become much more sensitive since the first AIM-7 entered service half a century ago. The current versions of the missile work by detecting a heat source...

During a Sept. 23 test, an AIM-9X fired from a U.S. Air Force F-16C fighter sank a rapidly moving target boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Raytheon thus demonstrated the capability to employ the AIM-9X Sidewinder advanced infrared-guided air-to-air missile to attack surface targets. "With a software upgrade, AIM-9X retains its air-to-air capabilities and gains an air-to-surface capability," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems vice president of Air Warfare Systems. "AIM-9X now has the potential to take on an additional mission at a very affordable cost." The test marks the third time an AIM-9X engaged moving surface targets. In April...

EXCLUSIVE: Raytheon adapts AIM-9X for air-to-ground mission By Stephen Trimble Raytheon has adapted the heat-seeking AIM-9X to strike moving targets on the ground or in the water, adding another new capability for the formerly air-to-air-only missile. The modification allows the same AIM-9X to strike both air and ground targets. Jeff White, Raytheon's business development manager for AIM-9X, declines to describe the modification in detail, but says it involves only software changes. The AIM-9X infrared seeker, proximity fuse and blast/fragmentation warhead remain unchanged. During a 23 September Gulf of Mexico test, a US Air Force F-15C fired the air-to-surface AIM-9X and...

Australia confirms AIM-9X selection for Super Hornets By Peter La Franchi Australia has confirmed that its Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet acquisition will include the purchase of the Raytheon AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile, and potentially also Raytheon's ATFLIR targeting pod. "We are going to go with the US Navy-common AIM-9X," says Gp Capt Stan Roberton, head of Australia's Super Hornet programme office. "We are very happy with [MBDA's] ASRAAM and the capability that is bringing to our legacy [F/A-18A/B] Hornets, but the driver is to stay USN-common with the weapons and keep this a very low risk but high-end capability."...

TUCSON, Ariz., April 5, 2005 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company celebrated the delivery of the 1,000th AIM-9X to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force March 29. The event highlighted a production milestone to provide warfighters with unprecedented capability and air dominance in the battlespace. "I am extremely proud of the AIM-9X team's accomplishments in the production and delivery of 1,000 AIM-9X next generation Sidewinder Missiles to the U.S. warfighter," said Capt. Scott Stewart, the Navy's program manager for Air-to-Air Missiles. "The ingenuity, dedication and expertise of this team has maintained and preserved the Sidewinder as the most formidable and lethal...