Iirc. ASRAAM was a co-development but the US withdrew from the program because they had so many Aim-9ms left over they wanted to upgrade and use up first, which led to the Aim-9X
Which is part of the reason why ASRAAM entered service in 1998 and Aim-9X not until 2003
I have no idea on cost, but given the main aim for the Aim-9X iirc, was to use up the surplus supply of Aim-9 parts (They had something like 30k Aim-9Ms or something crazy) and so it was always go to be hamstrung.
but I cant wait for the US mains to discover this fact
Its possible. I think MICA/ASRAAM will be better ingame simply due to the ease of use and the fact all missiles can reliably be used to intercept other missiles, meaning the range advantage is all that really matters in-game at that point.
irl the IRIS-T has the secondary role of semi-automatic aircraft self protection, which is not stated to be a MICA/ASRAAM capability (though it might be, but until proven otherwise, I assume it isnt). This would allow jets equipped with it to be more aggressive with the ARH’s and would have secondary benefits in SAM contested airspaces as well, which might alternatively give it the edge.
Given ASRAAM being used in a certain conflict and the main things it been shooting down is drones and missiles. I think its reasonable to assume ASRAAM can be used for that. No idea though if the RAF pro-actively use it for that though from a Typhoon
France offered the MICA to the UK as an alternative to ASRAAM, the reasons given for rejecting it were:
At 112 kg it is too heavy for some missile launchers (for example Eurofighter’s ITSPL pylons were designed to fire a 90 kg missile at 9g, and would have to have the g limit lowered for MICA).
It is a purely digital missile meaning it cannot be used on any analogue aircraft.
It is incompatible with existing missile launch rails causing interoperability problems with other nations / aircraft.
I think theres a destinction to be made between intercepting cruise missiles, and intercepting incoming SAMs and AAMs.
That being said, an alternative theory for the IRIS-Ts success could just be cost. Seems like the MICA is in the ballpark of $2.7mil per round, which is insanely expensive, with the AIM-9X being around $1.1mil, the IRIS-T ~$500k, and the ASRAAM allegedly only $225k?
Some of the numbers seem dubious to me, but thats just what I could find quickly.
MICA also seems stupid expensive from what I can find. To the point where it reaply makes me question why anyone would bother using the stupid thing if the numbers are accurate…
Honestly, could just be that the French are screwing ppl by selling them the Rafales, then doing as the US do and barring the integration of anything but the MICA for IR munitions, letting them rob ppl blind.
The ASRAAM is one of the most advanced missiles available and Indian Air Force (IAF) selected it as its future unified air-to-air combat weaponry within visual range (WVR). The ASRAAM will replace the older French Magic II and Russian R-73 Vympel, and will be integrated on all IAF fighters, including the Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Rafale, and future Tejas. - Source
Hehehe, yeah, but does make sense for them to standardise all their aircraft to use the same missile. Sounds a like a logistical nightmare to use multiple.