AIM-120 AMRAAM

The West’s primary beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile — an active-radar fire-and-forget weapon that replaced the semi-active Sparrow, arming 14 fighter types across 42 nations and doubling as the interceptor for the ground-based NASAMS.

Overview

The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), colloquially “Slammer,” is a beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missile produced by Raytheon (RTX). It entered service in 1991 as the successor to the AIM-7 Sparrow and became NATO’s standard BVR weapon. The missile combines inertial navigation, a two-way datalink, and an active radar terminal seeker to give pilots a fire-and-forget capability. It has been adapted for surface launch as the interceptor in the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), giving it a dual air-defense role. More than 25,000 rounds have been produced, and the missile remains in full-rate production with the AIM-120D-3 as the latest variant.

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