Ultra Long-Range US Missile Could Shift Balance of Power in Pacific

ANALYSIS – Reach out and touch someone – like China's air force. The U.S. Navy's deployment of a new extremely long-range air-to-air missile (AAM)in the Indo-Pacific region threatens to overcome China's recently established advantage in aerial reach.

Say hello to the AIM-174B.

Some are referring to it as a rebirth of the famed long range Phoenix missiles employed exclusively by F-14 Tomcat fleet superiority fighter until the early 2000s. 

The Phoenix had a range of over 100 miles, astounding for that time, and the F-14 could fire six of the missiles simultaneously at different targets. The jets radar and computers would prioritize the missile targets based on the threat.

The F-14 and its missiles were replaced by F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.

Unfortunately, the AIM-120 AMRAAMs (Advanced  Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles) used on the F-18s had nowhere the range of the Phoenix. Initial versions had 40 mile ranges. And plans to replace the Phoenix were scrapped.

Note – more recent AMRAAM versions have increased ranges up to 100 miles.

Meanwhile, the vast expanses of the Pacific and explosive growth of Chinese military power, including very long-range missiles, has put much of our fleet at risk.

The AIM-174B, developed from the U.S.'s primary ship-launched interceptor, Raytheon SM-6, is the longest-range such missile the U.S. has ever fielded and was officially acknowledged in July.

The AIM-174 was a previously classified Special Access Program. But was recently seen carried by an F/A-18E Super Hornet participating in the June RIMPAC 2024 exercise.

This may have been an intentional move to declassify the project.

The new missile has three key advantages: it can fly several times farther than the AMRAAM; it doesn't require new production lines; and it's compatible with the aircraft of at least one Pacific ally, Australia.

And it's fourth advantage is it has more than double the range.

The U.S. missile outranges China's PL-15 missile, the current longest range air-to-air missile in the Chinese inventory which can reach out to 85 miles, as the U.S. weapon can attack 250 miles. The long-range U.S. weapon is expected to help American jets by allowing them to stay far away from the targets during active operations.

But what might some of these operations look like? Well, for one, to take out Chinese long-range bombers before they can fire their own long-range anti-ship missiles.

As the London think tank IISS notes:

A possible target set for the now-in-service AIM-174B is what are sometimes referred to as high value airborne assets (HVAA). HVAAs include airborne early warning, electromagnetic combat and intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft as well as aircraft capable of carrying long-range anti-ship missiles of various descriptions. The new missile could possibly also provide a capability against air-launched ballistic missiles. The AIM-174B is intended primarily for the Indo-Pacific to counter to developments within the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and naval aviation.

China has a capable assortment of air-launched subsonic and supersonic anti-ship weapons, including the YJ-12 rocket/ramjet-powered missile in the latter class, while it is also developing air-launched aero-ballistic missiles such as the 2PZD-21 (possibly KD/YJ-21). The YJ-12 is an anti-ship system carried by the Xian H-6G/J/K medium bomber variants, while the aero-ballistic missile was first shown being carried on an H-6K. The latter missile closely resembles a development with the export designation CM-401 which was advertised as an anti-ship ballistic missile.

While the combat radius of the H-6J/K will vary considerably depending on weapon load and flight profile, H-6s operated from China's seaboard would be able to cover the East China Sea, the South China Sea and potentially into the Philippine Sea. This, however, would be dependent on the level of threat Beijing was willing to expose the H-6 to. Operating from one of its atoll air bases would further extend the combat radius. The YJ-12 has an estimated range of 500 km, while the CM-401 was advertised with a range of 290 km. The latter figure, however, was probably determined by Beijing's lip service to the Missile Technology Control Regime, rather than an accurate depiction of the weapon's unconstrained performance.

The ability to be able to engage the H-6 before any weapon release will be a US Navy priority, a fight that during the latter years of the Cold War was known as the ‘outer air battle.' The Grumman F-14 Tomcat–AIM-54 Phoenix combination was, in the 1980s, intended to counter the Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire C equipped with the Raduga Kh-22 (RS-AS-4 Kitchen). The F/A-18E carrying the AIM-174 has the performance to provide a similar capability.

The missiles can also be used to target China's large military transport planes.

However, Chinese naval and air Forces are reportedly now deploying a new longer range air-to-air missile, the PL-17.

Longer than the PL-15 AAM, the PL-17 has been said to have a range of between 185 and 250 miles, making it one of the farthest-reaching AAMs in the world, and comparable to the AIM 174B, at least if Chinese claims are to be believed.

This could put the U.S. and China back on a level playing field.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.