Saturday, March 20, 2010

AIM-132 ASRAAM

IOC: 2002

Origin
United Kingdom

Contractor/s
MBDA

Applications
Tornado ADV
Tornado Gr4
Typhoon
Typhoon T1

Description: The AIM-132 ASRAAM (Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile) missile has been designed to provide excellent performance in short range air-to-air engagements. The ASRAAM has been selected by the United Kingdom and the Australian Air Force for their Tornado F3, Harrier, F/A-18 and Eurofighter-Typhoon aircraft.

The ASRAAM features an advanced IR seeker (128x128 resolution) and the capability to operate in heavy ECM environments. It receives the target coordinates from the aircraft's sensors (radar and IRST), the pilot's helmet mounted sight or even from its own IR imaging sensor in the search and track mode. Its high speed and maneuverability provides the ASRAAM with a high kill probability once fired. ASRAAM has a single blast fragmentation warhead detonated by impact and laser proximity fuze.

The Russian AA-11, the American AIM-9X and the German IRIS-T missiles are the AIM-132 ASRAAM foreign counterparts. United Kingdom and Australia remain as the only known operators for ASRAAM as of September 2004. In the near future, it will undergo integration work on the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter weapon system to meet the requirements of the British Armed Forces.

On August 20, 2004, the ASRAAM short range air-to-air missile was cleared for operational service with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Four F/A-18 equipped squadrons were armed with the ASRAAM missile. The procurement contract was signed in November 1998. A classified number of missiles were transferred from the UK to Australia between 2000 and 2003. A total of 20 test firings were carried out in the United States and Australia prior to official entry into service.

Specifications
Dimensions: Diameter 170 mm, Length 2.9 m, Width 450 mm

Weights: Max Weight 88 kg (194 lb), Warhead 10 kg (22 lb)

Performance: Max Range 15,000 m (49,213 ft), Min Range 300 m (984 ft), Top Speed 996 mps (Mach 3)

AIM-132 ASRAAM - Contracts, Orders & Sales

see transactions report

Storm Shadow (in 2005 and 2006), ASRAAM (in 2005 and 2006), Brimstone (in 2005 and 2006), HVM HEK (in 2005 and 2006) and Rapier (in 2005) missile systems (2,679 missiles in 2005 and 3,530 missiles in 2006); items: 6,209; United Kingdom national production procurement between 2005 and 2006
Items: 6,209

AIM-132 ASRAAM; items: undisclosed; transferred from United Kingdom to Australia between 2000 and 2005

Delivery	Items
2000	20

News
RAAF F/A-18 Aircraft Carried Out First Lock After Launch Firing of ASRAAM Missile

First Tranche of 144 Eurofighters Delivered to Partner Nations

Royal Air Force Fires 100th ASRAAM Missile

Typhoon F2 Fires Air-to-Air Missiles for the First Time

RAF Typhoons Gain Precision Strike Capability

Future British Armed Forces Takes Shape

Seawolf Block 2 Successfully Fired for the First Time

Operators

see operators map

Australia

United Kingdom

Image Gallery

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Notes
(*) lead contractor
IOC: Initial Operating Capability
FOC: Full Operating Capability
CEP: Circular Error Probable
Comm: Commissioning Date
Meters (m) Kilometers (km) Nautic Miles (nm) Inch (in) Yard (yd) Foot (ft) Millimeter (mm)
Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) kN (KiloNewton) Ton (t)
Meters per Second (mps) Kilometers per Hour (kph) Knot (kt) Miles per Hour (mph)
Liter (l) Galon (gl)
Year (yr) Minutes (min) Second (sec)
Shaft-Horse-Power (shp)

Last Updated: Sunday, March 07, 2010

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