Sophistication versus simplification: the divided future of air-to-air missiles
Little detail is known about the AIM-260 but the basic configuration is believed to be unchanged since this 2022 rendering. (Image: US Air Force)
As global air combat operations continue to evolve at a rate not seen for decades, what will the next generation of air-to-air weapons look like, and what missions will they need to fulfil?
Weapons development is guided and accelerated by experience of actual conflict. Sometimes, equipment may prove to be virtually perfect when first used in a hot war, but equally a system may fail to perform as expected or even prove wholly unsuited. A further aspect – currently of great concern – is the cost and production complexity of the weapon; even the best-designed ordnance cannot perform if it is not built or delivered in time.
In the air-to-air sector, current conflicts and threats have identified the need for weapons that encompass two radically different types of engagement at opposite ends of
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