according to a avic chinese study, in the same launch parameters that gives aim 260 a 260km range envelope, aim 120d3 has 185km range
launch speed 1.2 mach at 10km alt same speed for target
https://www.aeroweaponry.avic.com/CN/10.12132/ISSN.1673-5048.2025.0057
And yet that statement is true, regardless of what you feel or think about it.
We have meteor with 100ish km
We have the russian one with I dont remember exactly how much, but there are fair number floating around.
And aim260? Shall we just eyeball it to say 150? or maybe 250? or maybe 80? Why not be optimistic with 300? What do we do? What do you propose?
Whining into the void is no better than pointing at incredibility.
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meteor is 100km no escape zone, not range
aim 120a max range is already 125ish km, doubt aim 260 is only 25 km better lol.
this is for mach 2 launch against mach 2 target at 10km altitude if i remember right, battery life of 80 seconds
yeah honestly the most impressive part to me about the ~200km AIM-120D shots is that it was on a subsonic target, with how high missiles can loft and launching from a fast platform at high altitude, range if anything is more of a function of battery life than pure kinematics
Lol the good old aim-174, not even in service is it
yeah expect aim 120d to be 200+km with a mach 2 launch against a mach 2 target at 10km alt
what? Im pretty sure it’s in service with the fa18e
it is?
has been officially acknowledged as in service for about 5 years with rumors for around 5 more
Trialled at a navy event ≠ widespread service
It popped up last year, what do you mean a decade of service xD
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again thats the thing, the statement (and info from the test range) show it as being on a subsonic target
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last I checked 2021 is not last year
idk what to tell you, it was publicly revealed in 2024 but photos from earlier
and supposedly rumors since 2015
The U.S. Navy confirmed in July 2024 that the weapon in operationally deployed.
The AIM-174B Has Been Nicknamed ‘Gunslinger’ - The Aviationist
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ie: its a useless PR statement you’re trying to pass off as a fact…
Btw, the “longest range shot ever with an AMRAAM” thing came shortly after a PL-15E dusted a Rafale in India from a claimed distance of over 200km, so maybe its just unfortunate timing, but it reeks of “Guys! we’re still relevant in the AAM game! I swear! We did a long range shot too!!!” on the part of the americans that already admitted they were outranged by their rivals atm due to sitting on their thumbs and congratulating themselves for it for too long.
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It’s insane how we seemingly know more about the launch and range parameters for late Aim-120 variants and Aim-260 than French mains know about launch parameters for the MICA range claims…
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what are you going on about, we have known live fire testing has been ongoing for some time now
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to be fair there’s also a billion unclassified docs from the british national archives which is why we know so much about amraam… not really a fair comparison, unsure if the french have something similar that has the same wealth of information as the british national archives
I am miffed that people feel the need to dick measure with a missile that isn’t even on service jets yet, while claiming that confirmed kills are somehow less valuable as a performance metric than media statements and record attempts