US approves AARGM sale for German Tornados

The US State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale (FMS) to Germany via the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) of up 91 AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles (AARGM) plus up to eight training missiles for use with the air force’s Panavia Tornado fighter.

The deal is worth some $122.86 million, and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress that the potential sale had been approved.

In addition to the AGM-88E missiles, Germany has also requested up to six telemetry/flight termination systems, flight data recorders, US government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services and miscellaneous support equipment. 

The AGM-88E AARGM is an upgrade to the older generation AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile(HARM), which Germany first purchased in 1988. 

The AGM-88E AARGMs in this case will be manufactured using a mixture of new components and older sections from Germany's existing stock of AGM-88Bs provided as so-called government furnished equipment.  

Germany has requested that the NSPA act as its agent for the FMS procurement and case management to support the AARGM programme. 

The principal US contractor will be NGIS, based in Ridgecrest, California, and integration of the new capability will be via a direct commercial sale initiated by the German air force between the Tornado Management Agency (NETMA) and the AARGM OEM, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems.

Implementation of this proposed sale will require five US government personnel and three contractor representatives to travel to Germany to provide programme management reviews, and two visits per year are planned over the next five years.