USAF's Eagle II on track by firing its first AMRAAM
On 25 January 2022, the 40th Flight Test Squadron’s Boeing F-15EX Eagle II serial 20-0001 fired an AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). This marked the first live fire from the USAF's newest fighter aircraft.
While flying from Tyndall AFB (FL), the F-15EX fired the missile at a BQM-167 aerial target over the Gulf of Mexico. Normally flying out of Eglin AFB (FL) and resorting under the 96th Test Wing, the 40th FLTS's Eagle II was flown to Tyndall.
Being a part of the 53rd Wing’s Combat Archer exercise, an air-to-air Weapons System Evaluation Programme (WSEP), the F-15EX detected the BQM-167 using onboard sensors, acquired a weapons-quality track and launched the live AMRAAM missile at the target.
WSEP is the US Department of Defense’s largest air-to-air live-fire evaluation exercise. The successful release marked the first weapon fired from the aircraft and another major milestone following more than six months of integrated developmental and operational flight testing for this latest end-to-end verification of the entire weapons system.
It is expected that the F-15EX's Raytheon AN/APG-82(V)1 Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar system in combination with the AIM-120D missile will be inducted on all new built Eagle IIs.
Although the exact range of the missile is classified, it is believed that it, in combination with the radar, can hit targets at a distance of 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers).
Currently being developed by Lockheed Martin, the next generation AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) are also foreseen to be used by the USAF's F-15EX. This latest missile will even have a bigger capacity concerning the distance.
Photos by USAF