The AIM-120D, the newest version of the advanced medium-range air-to-air missile that the Air Force is buying, destroyed an unmanned target drone during a recent developmental flight test, according to Raytheon, the missile’s maker. A Navy F/A-18F fighter fired the AIM-120D against a QF-4 drone on May 22 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company said in an Aug. 5 release that announced the heretofore undisclosed shootdown. “This test is another important milestone on the road to putting the AIM-120D in the hands of the US warfighter,” Col. Scott Rumph, commander of the Air Force’s 328th Armament Systems Group, said in the release. The Air Force ordered 98 AIM-120Ds under a contract announced in late May. The D model builds upon its predecessor the AIM-120C7 by offering increased jam resistance in the face of adversary electronic attack systems as well as a two-way datalink and GPS-aided navigation.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
