Submitted by NAVAIR Public Affairs

America's newest air-to-air missile, the AIM-9X Sidewinder, made a successful second launch April 25, at a test range in California. Developed by a joint U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force and Raytheon Missile Systems Team, the AIM-9X is the latest upgrade to the veteran family of sidewinder air-to-air missiles.

The AIM-9X system is the newest upgrade to the tried-and-true Sidewinder family of air-to-air missiles. This family of missiles has sustained American fighter pilots in air-to-air combat since the mid-1950's. This newest missile upgrade modifies the fielded AIM-9M to the more capable AIM-9X missile providing a more lethal capability.

Recent events in Bosnia and Operations Desert Fox and Desert Storm re-emphasized the need for air superiority in achieving defense objectives. Potential adversaries' ability to engage allied air forces is increasing. In fact, today, air forces around the world are fielding sophisticated air-to-air missiles capable of engaging US forces in very dynamic scenarios. US fighter pilots will continue to dominate any fielded threat with the AIM-9X.

The second live firing of an AIM-9X "Separation and Control Test Vehicle (SCTV)" occurred at 12:15 p.m. EDT, at Naval Air Warfare Center-Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif. This SCTV followed a series of pre-programmed commands to demonstrate multiple objectives allowing Raytheon, Navy, and Air Force engineers to verify the missile performs as planned.

This was the second missile fired within the past two months. Both launches were successful. This series of tests will lead to a guided firing later this summer.

This successful launch was the direct result of the hard work of the Navy industry team consisting of the prime contractor - - Raytheon, Navy and Air Force program office members, China Lake, Patuxent River, Md. and Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., field teams.

Raytheon will continue flight test of the AIM-9X design, to verify Navy and Air Force compatibility. The Air Force plans to buy 5,080 and the Navy 5,000 AIM-9X missiles over a planned 17-year production run.

The AIM-9X is currently in the engineering and manufacturing development phase and is approximately one year from production.