The Navy and Orbital ATK [OA] successfully concluded a live fire test of the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) Block 1 Software Upgrade on Sept. 22, the company said Monday.

The AGM-88E missile was test launched from a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft at the China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center with a “complex” scenario designed to test the missile’s capability against an advanced air defense radar threat. Before launch, the AARGM detected, identified, and located the target using its anti-radiation homing receiver. This information was then directly relayed to the pilot, who launched the missile in Target of Opportunity mode, Orbital ATK said.

Orbital ATK AARGM (AGM-88E)lLaunched from U.S. Navy F/A-18D Hornet. Photo: Orbital ATK.
Orbital ATK AARGM (AGM-88E)lLaunched from U.S. Navy F/A-18D Hornet. Photo: Orbital ATK.

The missile then scored a direct hit on the target due to the AARGM’s millimeter wave radar located the target and performed terminal guidance.

The company said AARGM is a supersonic, air-launched tactical missile system, upgrading the older AGM-88 HARM systems. The new missile has advanced capabilities like performing destruction of enemy air defense and time sensitive strike missions.

AARGM is designed to quickly engage advanced land and sea-based radar air defense threats in addition to other time-sensitive strike targets, Orbital ATK said.

“The AARGM Block 1 Software Upgrade testing successfully demonstrated the missile’s performance in a very challenging tactical scenario. This was a key test in the steps to roll this upgrade out to our warfighters,” Cary Ralston, vice president and general manager of the Defense Electronic Systems division of the Defense System’s Group at Orbital ATK, said in a statement.

“This is the second live fire test of the AARGM Block 1 Software Upgrade. Another key attribute of the Block 1 upgrade capability, engagement of moving ships, was successfully demonstrated a few weeks earlier further validating the versatility and capability of the weapon,” Gordon Turner, vice president of programs for business development and strategy for Defense Electronic Systems at Orbital ATK, said.

The missile test operated under the Navy’s Integrated Product Team, led by the Direct and Time Sensitive Strike Program Office, POMA-242. Other test team members are the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division–China Lake, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Three One, and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Nine.

AARGM is a U.S. Navy and Italian Air Force international cooperative acquisition program with the U.S. Navy operating as the executive service. AARGM reached initial operational capability in July 2012 and was approved for full-rate production in September 2012. The missile is currently deployed on U.S. Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18C/D Hornets, F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, and E/A-18G Growler aircraft. The missile is also being integrated into the Italian Air Force’s Tornado ECR aircraft.