ATK‘s [ATK] AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) wrapped up a Milestone C review and received approval for entry into Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP), the company reported.
Navy acquisition chief Sean Stackley rendered the decision in a Sept. 30, 2008, Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM) signaling the program had demonstrated compliance with all milestone criteria, including successful completion of an Operational Assessment (OA) test phase. Achievement of Milestone C formally signals that the missile system’s maturity is sufficient to commence LRIP, ATK said.
AARGM, an upgrade to the Navy’s AGM-88 HARM system, is a U.S. and Italian international cooperative major acquisition program with the U.S. Navy as the executive agent, according to ATK.
Milestone C assessed program acquisition maturity of the weapon system as well as ATK’s readiness for production. The key test event, an AARGM OA, was completed in August culminating in successful missile launches against air defense targets. With these launches, AARGM has executed 11 live missile firings and numerous captive carry flights against a wide array of targets, the company said. “The combined ATK, Navy, and Italian team achieved Milestone C consistent with the program’s original Milestone B plan,” Jack Cronin, President, ATK Mission Systems, said.
When fielded in 2010, AARGM will be the only extended range tactical supersonic multi-role strike weapon in the U.S. and Italian inventories, according to ATK.
The capability and success achieved by the AARGM program can be traced to the Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Department of Defense (DoD) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) programs. The AARGM guidance section technology was developed under a series of Phase-I, II, and III SBIR contract awards in the 1990s.