The US State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Australia for AGM-88B HARM anti-radiation missiles at a cost of $US137.6 million.
The AGM-88 is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems and can achieve speeds up to Mach 2. The latest 'E' model has the capability to use anti-radiation homing and millimeter wave radar to detect, identify, locate, and engage moving targets.
The breakdown of the order is as follows:
- up to 70 AGM-88B High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) Tactical Missiles;
- up to 40 AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles (AARGM) Tactical Missiles;
- up to 16 CATM-88B and 16 CATM-88E HARM Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM);
- up to 25 AGM-88B and 20 AGM-88E control sections;
- up to 25 AGM-88B and 20 AGM-88E guidance sections;
- up to 48 Telemetry/Flight Termination Systems; and
- US Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other associated support equipment and services.
The missiles and associated equipment are intended for use on the RAAF's new EA-18G Growler aircraft which first debuted at the Avalon Airshow earlier this year.