New Delhi: Post the World War 2, the Cold War between the USA and Soviet Union kept the world on a powder keg for decades. Now, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, China has emerged as a veritable, out-and-out adversary to the USA with the political, market, and military analysts dubbing as the “US-China Cold War”.
The two biggest economies and superpowers have locked horns on various issues, but the power balance in the Indo-Pacific region is perhaps the most volatile and fickle with both flexing their muscles in any way possible.
Taking it further, the USA has positioned the new Air Interceptor Missile (AIM) 174B long-range air-to-air missile that could possibly tilt the power in America’s favour as far as the Indo-Pacific is concerned.
The AIM-174B missile, on board the US Navy’s F-18 Super Hornet, is said to have an operational range of approximately 400 km.
It represents a significant upgrade in the US Navy’s air-to-air combat capabilities, building on the body of the Standard SM-6 missile and integrating technology from the AIM-120 AMRAAM seeker with the AIM-174B derivative of the Raytheon SM-6 surface-to-air missile operated out of US naval platforms.
The SM-6 is a multi-role missile used for anti-air warfare, anti-ballistic missiles, and anti-surface warfare.
The AIM-174B was reportedly first spotted during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2024) exercise. The US Navy also officially unveiled the AIM-174B air-to-air missile, described as an “Air-Launched Configuration” of the RIM-174 Standard ERAM surface-to-air missile.
The AIM-174B is the air-to-air version of the SM-6 missile, readily available due to the existing production line for the SM-6 missile.
The missile has a speed of Mach 3.5, i.e. 3.5 times the speed of sound and is considered to be a direct equivalent of the Russian Rh-37 Vympel long-range hypersonic air-to-air missile with a range of 400 km and the Chinese PL-15 long-range missile has a range of 300-350 km.
China PLA Navy has reportedly deployed an advanced version of PL-15, the PL-17 missile, with a range of 400 km. The last dedicated long-range air-to-air missile the US Navy had was the AIM-54 Phoenix for the F-14 Tomcat. The fighter jet and the missile were out of service in 2004.
The introduction of the AIM-174B by the US Navy in the Indo-Pacific aims to counter China’s aerial dominance and part of a broader strategy to enhance US power projection as tensions in the region escalate.
“The United States has waited more than three decades to field an entirely new type of long-range air-to-air missile, and actually retired its previous longest-range air-to-air weapon, the Navy’s AIM-54C Phoenix missile, in 2004, followed two years later by the F-14 Tomcat fighters designed to carry them,” says Forbes.
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