SubscribeThe Italian Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense have agreed to jointly develop the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).
AARGM will greatly enhance the warfighter's capability to defeat enemy air defenses and strike other time-sensitive targets. As prime contracto r, ATK will execute the additional development and test efforts resulting from Italian participation, and three different Italian industry partners to execute the Italian efforts.
AARGM and future derivatives may be made available to selected U.S. allies to significantly enhance their respective warfighting capabilities and to improve coalition force interoperability.
"AARGM is assigned the task of defeating enemy air defenses, and when it enters service it will immediately become the most advanced anti-radiation air-to-ground weapon system in the arsenals of the U.S. Navy and participating allied nations," said Captain Mark Converse, USN Program Manager, PMA-242. "We are pleased to welcome Italy to the team and look forward to the many contributions Italian industry will make as we proceed with development."
The Italian government's contribution to the AARGM program includes developmental funding as well as non-financial contributions such as surrogate targets/simulators. ATK's Italian industry partners will develop, manufacture, and deliver real and surrogate air defense systems for use in a dedicated seeker captive flight test program. The cooperative development team will conduct this program at the flight test center at Pratica di Mare, Italy, and range facilities in Sardinia.
The Italian Air Force plans to deploy the AARGM missiles on their Tornado Electronic Combat and Reconnaissance (ECR) aircraft. "When carrying ATK's AARGM under its wing, the Italian Tornado ECR will have unmatched capability to perform destruction of enemy air defense (DEAD) missions," said Brian Lawrence, Vice President for International Cooperative Programs at ATK.
The Italian Ministry of Defense recently joined ATK's development program for the advanced anti-radiation guided missile.