Editing AIM-120 AMRAAM (section)

==Origins==
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===AIM-7 Sparrow MRM===
The [[AIM-7 Sparrow]] medium range missile (MRM) was purchased by the US Navy from original developer [[Hughes Aircraft]] in the 1950s as its first operational air-to-air missile with "[[beyond visual range]]" (BVR) capability. With an effective range of about {{convert|12|mi|km}}, it was introduced as a radar [[beam riding|beam-riding]] missile and then it was improved to a [[semi-active radar homing|semi-active radar guided]] missile which would home in on reflections from a target illuminated by the radar of the launching aircraft. It was effective at visual to beyond visual range. The early beam riding versions of the Sparrow missiles were integrated onto the [[McDonnell F3H Demon]] and [[Vought F7U Cutlass]], but the definitive AIM-7 Sparrow was the primary weapon for the all-weather [[McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II]] fighter/interceptor, which lacked an internal gun in its [[U.S. Navy]], [[U.S. Marine Corps]], and early [[U.S. Air Force]] versions. The F-4 carried up to four AIM-7s in built-in recesses under its belly.

Designed for use against non-maneuvering targets such as bombers, the missiles initially performed poorly against fighters over North Vietnam, and were progressively improved until they proved highly effective in dogfights. Together with the short-range, infrared-guided [[AIM-9 Sidewinder]], they replaced the [[AIM-4 Falcon]] IR and radar guided series for use in air combat by the USAF as well. A disadvantage to semi-active homing was that only one target could be illuminated by the launching [[fighter plane]] at a time. Also, the launching aircraft had to remain pointed in the direction of the target (within the azimuth and elevation of its own radar set) which could be difficult or dangerous in [[air-to-air combat]].

An active-radar variant called the Sparrow II was developed to address these drawbacks, but the U.S. Navy pulled out of the project in 1956. The [[Royal Canadian Air Force]], which took over development in the hopes of using the missile to arm their prospective [[Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow]] interceptor, soon followed in 1958.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-7.html|title=Raytheon AIM/RIM-7 Sparrow|work=designation-systems.net|access-date=April 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202152/http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-7.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The electronics of the time simply could not be miniaturized enough to make Sparrow II a viable working weapon. It would take decades, and a new generation of digital electronics, to produce an effective active-radar air-to-air missile as compact as the Sparrow.

===AIM-54 Phoenix LRM===
The US Navy later developed the [[AIM-54 Phoenix]] long-range missile (LRM) for the fleet air defense mission. It was a large {{convert|1000|lb|kg|-2|abbr=on}}, Mach 5 missile designed to counter [[cruise missile]]s and the bombers that launched them. Originally intended for the straight-wing [[Douglas F6D Missileer]] and then the navalized [[General Dynamics–Grumman F-111B]], it finally saw service with the [[Grumman F-14 Tomcat]], the only fighter capable of carrying such a heavy missile. The Phoenix was the first US [[fire-and-forget]], multiple-launch, radar-guided missile: one which used its own active guidance system to guide itself without help from the launch aircraft when it closed on its target. This, in theory, gave a Tomcat with a six-Phoenix load the unprecedented capability of tracking and destroying up to six targets beyond visual range, as far as {{convert|100|mi|km|-1}} away—the only US fighter with such capability.

A full load of six Phoenix missiles and its {{convert|2000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} dedicated launcher exceeded a typical Vietnam-era bomb load. Its service in the US Navy was primarily as a deterrent, as its use was hampered by restrictive [[rules of engagement]] in conflicts such as [[Gulf War|1991 Gulf War]], [[Operation Southern Watch|Southern Watch]] (enforcing no-fly zones), and [[Iraq War]]. The US Navy retired the Phoenix in 2004<ref>{{Citation | title = Navy Retires AIM-54 Phoenix Missile | url = http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=15422 | place = United States | publisher = Navy | access-date = November 26, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110305105351/http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=15422 | archive-date = March 5, 2011 | url-status = dead }}</ref> in light of availability of the AIM-120 AMRAAM on the [[McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet]] and the pending retirement of the F-14 Tomcat from active service in late 2006.

===ACEVAL/AIMVAL===
The [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] conducted an extensive evaluation of air combat tactics and missile technology from 1974 to 1978 at [[Nellis AFB]] using the F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle equipped with Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles as the blue force and aggressor F-5E aircraft equipped with [[AIM-9L]] [[all-aspect]] Sidewinders as the red force. This [[joint test and evaluation]] (JT&E) was designated [[ACEVAL/AIMVAL|Air Combat Evaluation/Air Intercept Missile Evaluation]] (ACEVAL/AIMVAL).{{citation needed| date= July 2010| reason= Dead link removed}} A principal finding was that the necessity to produce illumination for the Sparrow until impact resulted in the red force's being able to launch their all-aspect Sidewinders before impact, resulting in mutual kills. What was needed was Phoenix-type multiple-launch and terminal active capability in a Sparrow-size airframe. This led to a [[memorandum of agreement]] (MOA) with European allies (principally the UK and Germany for development) for the US to develop an advanced, medium-range, air-to-air missile with the USAF as lead service.

====ASRAAM====
The MOA also saw an agreement to develop a replacement for the Sidewinder, specifically; an advanced ‘dogfight’ air-to-air missile, capable of better covering the range disparity that would emerge between such short-range missiles and the eventual AMRAAM. This task fell to a British-German design team, with the Germans leaving the project in 1989. The missile would emerge as the British [[ASRAAM|Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile]] (ASRAAM), entering service in 1998. While the U.S. never adopted the ASRAAM — instead opting to continue upgrading the Sidewinder — the ASRAAM did enter into service with the British, Indian, and Australian militaries. The UK has continued to upgrade the ASRAAM, with the ‘Block 6’ variant entering service in 2022.<ref name="BLOCK6b">{{cite journal |last=Allison |first=George |date=2 May 2022 |title=ASRAAM Block 6 enters service on Typhoon |url=https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/asraam-block-6-enters-service-on-typhoon/ |url-status=live |journal=UK Defence Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502152133/https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/asraam-block-6-enters-service-on-typhoon/ |archive-date=2 May 2022 |accessdate=2 May 2022}}</ref>

===Requirements===
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By the 1990s, the reliability of the Sparrow had improved significantly, relative to its use in Vietnam, with it accounting for the largest number of aerial targets destroyed in the Desert Storm phase of the Gulf War. However, while the USAF had passed on the Phoenix and its own similar [[AIM-47 Falcon]]/[[Lockheed YF-12]] to optimize dogfight performance, it still needed a multiple-launch fire-and-forget capability for the F-15 and F-16. The AMRAAM would need to be fitted on fighters as small as the F-16, and fit in the same spaces that were designed to fit the Sparrow on the F-4 Phantom. The European partners needed AMRAAM to be integrated on aircraft as small as the [[British Aerospace Sea Harrier|BAe Sea Harrier]]. The US Navy needed the AMRAAM to be carried on the F/A-18 Hornet and wanted capability for two to be carried on a launcher that normally carried one Sparrow to allow for more air-to-ground weapons. Finally, the AMRAAM became one of the primary air-to-air weapons of the new [[Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor]] fighter, which needed to place all of its weapons into internal weapons bays in order to help achieve an extremely low [[radar cross-section]].