AGM-88 HARM

AGM-88 High-speed Anti-radiation Missile is an anti-radiation, air-to-surface missile highly effective against enemy ground radar.
AGM-88 is a joint USAF-Navy weapon carried by SEAD-dedicated F-16CJs. AGM-88B is equipped with erasable and electronically programmable read-only memory, permitting in-field changes to missile memory. The AGM-88C is the current production model with a more lethal warhead.
Raytheon began a HARM Control Section Mod (HCSM) in 2013 to convert current models to more precise AGM-88Fs with improved GPS/INS guidance, anti-countermeasure performance, and reduced risk of collateral damage.
The Navy is further retrofitting its missiles with advanced networking, digital homing, and terminal millimeter-wave radar seeker resulting in the AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM).

USAF dropped sole-source plans to pursue the extended-range AGM-88G AARGM-ER as the basis for its next-generation Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW), issuing a request to industry in March 2021 for proposals instead. SiAW will give the F-35 the ability to strike advanced threats including theater ballistic missile and land attack/anti-ship missile sites, GPS jammers, and anti-satellite systems.

USAF is pursuing Navy-led fielding of AARGM-ER as an interim SEAD capability for the F-35A, procuring 184 missiles from FY23 to FY25 as a bridge to SiAW. AARGM-ER differs significantly from the legacy AGM-88, incorporating a new motor, larger diameter, and blended conformal strakes in place of forward stabilizing fins. A Navy F-18F successfully test-fired the first AARGM-ER in 2021, but the sea service’s plan to reach IOC in 2023 slipped due to testing and certification delays to late FY25.


AGM-88 HARM Technical Data

Contractors: Raytheon (HARM); Northrop Grumman (AARGM).
First Flight: April 1979.
Delivered: 1982-98.
IOC: Circa 1984.
Active Variants: •AGM-88B. Early production variant. •AGM-88C. Current production variant. •AGM-88F. Upgraded variant with greater accuracy and precision. •Stand-In Attack Weapon. Next-generation anti-radiation missile based on the AARGM-ER.
Dimensions: Span 3.7 ft, length 13.7 ft, diameter 10 in.
Propulsion: Thiokol dual-thrust, solid-propellant rocket motor.
Performance: Supersonic, range 30+ miles.
Guidance: Proportional with fixed antenna and seeker head in missile nose.
Warhead: HE fragmentation.
Integration: F-16CJ (Block 50); planned: B-21, F-35A (SiAW).


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