Earns Initial Operating Capability with the Air Force
The U.S. Navy and Raytheon Company
celebrated today the achievement of initial operational capability
of AIM-9X with the U.S. Air Force. The 12th and 19th Fighter
Squadrons of the 3rd Wing, 11th Air Force, are the first
operational units to field and train with AIM-9X.
"I'm extremely proud of our AIM-9X government and industry team.
They have successfully developed and fielded a dominant air-to-air
missile to the American warfighter," said Capt. Scott Stewart,
Naval Air Systems Command program manager for Air-to-Air missile
systems. "No longer a development program, AIM-9X is a reality that
will change the rules of air combat forever. "It's very satisfying
to hear the words of praise from the Elmendorf aircrews and
ordnance personnel. After all, warfighter satisfaction is what it
is all about."

"We are extremely proud to deliver on our promise of 21st
century air dominance," said Donald M. Targoff, Raytheon Missile
Systems vice president for air-to-air missiles in Tucson, Ariz. "It
is rewarding to see a program go from a design and a dream to
operational employment by our nation's fighter pilots."
"We're thrilled the 3rd Wing has the opportunity to be on the
cutting edge of combat technology," said Col. Russ Handy, 3rd
Operations Group commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base. "The AIM-9X
adds even more lethality to our already awesome air-to-air
capability. As always, the 3rd Wing stands ready and able to place
the right people in the right place at the right time, and the
AIM-9X will be key to our success during any contingency."
AIM-9X changes the rules of the aerial combat through a system
design approach that incorporates a fifth-generation staring focal
plane array seeker for robust guidance performance and infrared
countermeasure resistance and jet vane control for extremely agile
turning performance.

AIM-9X has undergone an extensive and highly successful flight
test program complemented by a sophisticated and accredited
modeling and simulation capability. AIM-9X is a U.S. Department of
Defense flagship program for modeling simulation, saving more than
$50 million in development costs.
The program scored an unprecedented 18 successes in 19 guided
flights during development testing and completed 22 Operation
Evaluation (OPEVAL) firings.
The missile has also undergone more
than 3,500 hours of rigorous captive flight testing. Currently in
its third year of production, the AIM-9X program is on schedule.
Formal OPEVAL has been completed and all Lot 1 deliveries were
accomplished ahead of schedule. A fourth production contract award
is planned for late 2003. With a planned 18-year production run,
AIM-9X will provide revolutionary capability to U.S. and allied war
fighters through 2018. Future AIM-9X plans aim to further enhance
the missile's capabilities, particularly in the transformational
network enabled warfare environment.
Potential improvements include lock-on after launch mode that
creates a 360- degree threat engagement zone and a vertical
acquisition scan, or helmet-less high off bore-sight mode, that
permits first shot opportunity with AIM-9X even if the aircraft
does not incorporate a helmet mounted cueing system.
Eleven countries have expressed interest in the AIM-9X.
Switzerland, South Korea and Poland have selected AIM-9X to fill
their future short-range missile requirements after thorough
comprehensive evaluations. Raytheon expects to produce more than
10,000 missiles to be divided between the Navy and Air Force and
more than 5,000 for international customers.