The US Air Force (USAF) is monitoring the development of the US Navy’s newly revealed AIM-424 Malice, raising the possibility that the very-long-range air-to-air missile could eventually find applications beyond carrier aviation.
“The Air Force is closely following the progress of the Navy on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile Program,” a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine on August 24. The USAF declined to answer additional questions, and there is currently no confirmation that it plans to acquire or integrate the weapon.
The interest is notable because the two services have historically approached the extreme end of air-to-air engagement ranges differently.
The Navy developed the AIM-54 Phoenix to protect carrier groups from Soviet bombers and other threats at long distances. Paired with the F-14 Tomcat and its powerful AWG-9 radar, the missile provided an engagement capability approaching 100 nm (185 km). Both aircraft and missile were retired from US service in 2006.
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The Air Force, by contrast, relied primarily on the AIM-7 Sparrow before transitioning to the AIM-120 AMRAAM, weapons that were also extensively used by the Navy. The two services are now introducing the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), intended to provide substantially greater performance while remaining compatible with existing fighter weapon bays.
Malice occupies a different category. The Navy credits the Raytheon-developed AIM-424 with a range exceeding 250 nm (463 km). At 13.5 ft (4.11 m) long and approximately 1,500 lb (680 kg), it is considerably larger than an AMRAAM but can still be carried internally by the F-35C.
Possible path to the Air Force
There may also be a historical connection between Malice and earlier USAF work.
Aviation Week reported that the AIM-424 uses a two-stage configuration reminiscent of the Long Range Engagement Weapon (LREW), an effort pursued in the 2010s while the Air Force was also developing what became the AIM-260. Unlike the JATM, LREW explored a substantially larger weapon intended for much longer-range engagements.
The Navy says the AIM-424 is intended for fourth-, fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft. Its currently identified platforms include the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F-35C and future F/A-XX.
That description makes the USAF’s interest particularly relevant to its Boeing F-47 sixth-generation fighter, although neither the Air Force nor the Navy has said that Malice will be integrated with the aircraft.
The AIM-424 could also offer something the Navy’s AIM-174B cannot easily provide to current USAF stealth fighters. Derived from the SM-6, the AIM-174B provides very-long-range air-to-air capability but is too large for internal carriage by the F-22 or F-35.
Meanwhile, the Air Force is pursuing an even more ambitious weapon. Its Air Force Long Range Weapon program calls for engagement distances exceeding 1,000 nm (1,852 km) and includes both air and surface targets, putting it in a different class from Malice.
