Recent Indo-Pakistani air battles showcase the lethal evolution of beyond visual range air-to-air missiles (BVRAAMs). As more countries field BVRAAMs capable of increasingly long-range engagements, traditional air combat doctrine faces an immense challenge.
When the Indian Air Force (IAF) launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ on 7 May 2025 against targets in Pakistan; the resulting events included an example of the latest form of air-to-air combat. Acting in response to what it described as attacks mounted by Pakistan-based terrorists, India was reported to have engaged a number of targets in Pakistan by launching long-range air-to-surface missiles from Rafale fighters operating well inside Indian airspace. Pakistan subsequently claimed to have downed several Indian aircraft, and was supported by video and imagery from Indian sources showing wreckages found on Indian territory.
The remains of at least one Rafale could be identified, along with missile components that showed how Pakistan combat aircraft had been able to engage Indian opponents without leaving Pakistani airspace. The Indian aircraft had been downed by a long-range air-to-air missile. The rules of beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air combat are being rewritten by advances in missile technology.
The classic configuration for a BVR missile was based on a semi-active radar seeker which exploited the radio frequency (RF) energy reflected by a target being tracked by the radar of the fighter conducting the engagement. Some missiles also had a rearward-facing antenna that monitored the launch aircraft’s radar signal, and used the difference between the frequencies of the direct and reflected signals in order to determine the closing rate between the missile and its target. This basic configuration resulted in weapons with a maximum range of around 30–40 km such as the AIM-7 Sparrow.
Extending the range well beyond this limit required the use of inertial navigation for the early and mid-range phases of the flight in order to bring the missile close enough to its intended target to allow detection via a nose-mounted seeker. This form of guidance was first used in the AIM-54 Phoenix, which entered US Navy (USN) service in 1974, and had a maximum range of 135 km, later increased to 189 km in its final AIM-54C version. Phoenix weighed around 450 kg, and was only carried by the F-14 Tomcat.
AMRAAM sets the standard
Fitting an inertial navigation system (INS) package and an active radar seeker into the smaller airframe of a Sparrow-class missile required a significant degree of miniaturisation. By the mid-1970s, this was becoming practical, and the US began its Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) programme. Experimental prototypes developed by what were then Hughes and Raytheon were test flown in the late 1970s, and the Hughes design was selected in December 1981.
Development was protracted, so the initial AIM-120A version did not enter service until 1991. This had a maximum range of around 50 km in head-on engagements, or 10 km against receding targets. By 1994, production had switched to the AIM-120B, which incorporated improved electronics, and by 1996 deliveries of the AIM-120C had begun. The latter was the first to feature ‘clipped’ aero surfaces to make it more suitable for carriage in the weapons bay of the F-22.
First delivered in 2000, the AIM-120C-5 incorporated a smaller guidance section made possible by more modern technology. This allowed the use of a lengthened rocket motor that had been developed under the Propulsion Enhancement Program, giving the missile a range of around 100 km against head-on targets.
A Form, Fit and Function Refresh (F3R) programme introduced new electronic circuit cards into the AIM-120D version, which offered GPS-aided navigation and incorporated a two-way datalink intended to improve end-game targeting. More efficient mid-course navigation based on trajectory shaping increased the maximum range to 160 km. The new variant achieved initial operational capability (IOC) with the USAF and USN in 2015.
Flight tests of the AIM-120D-3 version of AMRAAM started in June 2022 with the aim of creating what will probably be the final version for US service. Developmental and operational testing was successfully completed by mid-2023, and ended with a launch from an F-16. A similar upgrade has been incorporated in the AIM-120C-8 export version of the missile. This began flight testing in 2023 following the completion of flight tests of the AIM-120D-3.
Although production of AMRAAM is expected to peak in 2026, then decline until a planned end of production in 2029, studies may have investigated possible variants beyond the AIM-120D-3. On 1 April 2025, the USAF released details of an “AMRAAM Risk Reduction” contract for 30 months of work that had been awarded to Raytheon on 7 March 2025. This included “activities required to reduce risk of integrating weapon system/missile variants with a future processor”. However, a redacted Justification & Approval (J&A) document dating back to 2017 and released along with this contract award announcement noted that: “This J&A excludes any potential next generation variants developed after the AIM-120D (i.e., AIM-120E and beyond).”
Russia’s earliest equivalent to AMRAAM was the R-27 series (NATO reporting name: AA-10 ‘Alamo’) fielded from 1985 onwards. At least eight variants were developed, offering different types of guidance and steadily-increasing range. The R-27R and R-27R1 (AA-10 ‘Alamo-A’) teamed a SARH seeker with INS, and had a range of 60 km, while the R-27P and R-27P1 (AA-10 ‘Alamo-E’) combined a passive radar seeker and INS to give a reported range of around 70 km. Russia was the only country to combine a passive IR seeker with INS, creating the R-27T and R-27T1 (AA-10 ‘Alamo-B’) which were similar in range to the R-27P and R-27P1. With the R-27ER (AA-10 ‘Alamo-C’) and R-27ET (AA-10 ‘Alamo-D’) radar-guided variants, Russia finally achieved a range of 100 km.
Development of the R-77 (AA-12 ‘Adder’) – also known as the RVV-AE – began in the early 1980s. This missile uses an active-radar homing (ARH) seeker, plus INS, and its similarity in concept to the AIM-120 led to it being nicknamed ‘Amraamski” by some Western commentators. It had a maximum range of 80 km. The shortage of defence funding that followed the collapse of the former Soviet Union made procurement of the new missile impractical, so the weapon became an export product under the designation RVV-SD. In this form, it has a range of 110 km. By 2010, the R-77-1 (AA-12B) version was finally reported to be entering operational service with the Russian Air Force on the Su-35S, the upgraded MiG-29, and Su-27. The latest variant is the K-77M, which features clipped fins intended to make it compatible with carriage in the weapon bays of the Su-57.
Chasing greater range
Development of the Lockheed Martin AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) intended to create a new long-range missile for use by the USAF and USN began in 2017. The project was classified as a Special Access Programme (SAP), and its existence was not revealed until 2019. Flight trials seem to have begun in 2020, but these may have been carry trials intended to support seeker development. The initial goal of having the new weapon in service on the F-22 in 2022 proved unviable, so it will probably become operational in 2026. Flight tests are known to have been conducted by Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 31 in 2024, and JATM is expected to enter service on the F-22 Raptor fleet initially, then on the Super Hornet.
The AIM-260 is the same diameter and length as AMRAAM, so is compatible with the internal weapon bays of the F-22 and F-35. It is expected to have a longer range than AMRAAM – probably around 250–300 km. A diagram released by the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in February 2025 included a drawing of the AIM-260A. This depicted a wingless missile similar in length and diameter to AMRAAM, and incorporating small cruciform tail fins. Elimination of the moving wings and associated actuation systems has freed space for a longer rocket motor. By way of comparison, the AMRAAM motor occupies around 25% of the total length of that missile, but judging from the AIM-260 artwork, the motor of that missile appears to account for around 40% of the fuselage length.
Dual-pulse rocket motors
An air-to-air missile powered by a traditional solid-propellant powerplant will be coasting by the time it reaches medium range, so the target has the option of attempting to outrun and/or outmanoeuvre an incoming missile in order to degrade the threat’s available energy. As other nations and missile-design teams sought to create weapons that could match or exceed the range of AMRAAM, there was a need for more effective propulsion.
One solution was to adopt a dual-pulse rocket motor. This arrangement divides the propellant into two sections, wherein the missile uses the initial burn for launch and to get up to flying speed, while the second can be used to provide a burst of power during a later stage of flight. This can be used to either extend range or provide more energy to perform manoeuvres during the terminal phase of flight.
Dual-thrust motors are similar but somewhat simpler, insofar as the two sections burn sequentially rather than with a variable delay. These typically feature a faster-burning propellant for the boost phase and a slower-burning propellant to sustain missile speed.
While Russia’s R-77 used a single-pulse rocket motor, the R-77M has a dual-pulse motor. According to Russian state media outlet RT, the R-77M can “immediately respond to sharp turns of the target, making interception practically inevitable.”
The Mk I version on India’s Astra missile used a single-pulse rocket motor and has a maximum range of 80 km, but the Mk II introduced a dual-pulse motor that increased the maximum range to 100 km.
China’s first indigenous active-radar missile, the PL-12 is reported to have entered PLAAF and PLAN service late in 2004. Similar in configuration to AMRAAM, it is based on a combination of INS and ARH guidance, and powered by a dual-thrust solid-propellant rocket motor. Early examples had a maximum range of 70 km, but this was increased to 100 km in the -12B and -12D versions. The seeker can operate in active and passive modes, and may be based on the technology of the Russian-developed AGAT 9B-1103M and 9B-1348. The PL-12C variant introduced folding fins which allowed internal carriage on the J-20A.
Latest Chinese AAM to enter service was the PL-15. Probably first deployed in 2018, it is about 4 m in length, and weighs more than 200 kg. It uses an active electronically scanned array (AESA) ARH seeker teamed with an INS, and is probably powered by a dual-pulse rocket engine. Range is estimated to be 200 km or more, but the PL-15E export version has a shorter range of 150 km. The only known export user is Pakistan, and missile wreckage recovered by India following the downing of at least one IAF Rafale in early May 2015 showed that the French-built fighter had probably been the victim of a PL-15 missile. Pakistan was reported to have received the full-specification PL-15 rather than the shorter-ranged P-15E.
The Mitsubishi AAM-4 (also known as the Type 99) was developed as a replacement for the AIM-7 Sparrow, with a maximum range of 100 km. It entered service in 1999, and now equips Japanese F-15J and Mitsubishi F-2 fighters. However, it is too large to be accommodated internally in the F-35, which Japan also operates. The follow-on AAM-4B (Type 99 mod) fielded in 2010 was the first air-to-air missile known to use an AESA radar seeker, which was reported to operate in the Ka-band. A dual-thrust motor provides a maximum range of 120 km.
Rafael’s Derby family is Israel’s equivalent of AMRAAM, and in its initial version had a maximum range of just over 60 km. The follow-on I-Derby announced in 2015 used a rocket motor based on improved propellants, but the I-Derby-ER introduced later that year featured a new seeker, and was powered by a dual-pulse motor which provided a maximum range of 100 km.
Türkiye embarked on a programme to develop a missile able to replace AMRAAM in 2013. Developed by Tübitak Sage, and designated Gökdoğan, flight testing of the new missile began in 2018. According to unofficial reports, its guidance combines an active RF seeker radio frequency with an inertial system incorporating a tactical datalink. Propulsion is by means of reduced-smoke dual-pulse solid propellant rocket motor. The maximum range has not been disclosed, but unofficial estimates are 65-100 km. Gökdoğan entered service in 2024, but is probably seen as an interim weapon.
Ramjets – the air-breathing powerplant
Another solution to extending range is to use an air-breathing powerplant capable of providing sustained power, such as a ramjet. This propulsion system selected by MBDA for its Meteor missile. The company is reluctant to discuss Meteor in terms of maximum range, and places more emphasis on the missile’s no-escape zone, the volume of space ahead of the launch aircraft within which the target cannot avoid being engaged despite all possible evasive manoeuvres. However the maximum range is likely to be well in excess of 100 km. Meteor’s ramjet powerplant is thought to have a burn time of at least 60 seconds, giving the missile a higher average speed than that available from a boost or boost-sustain solid-propellant rocket motor, and making it likely that the missile will still be powered during the final stages of a long-range engagement.
Since Meteor was based on 1990s technology, and entered service in 2016, potential upgrades to the weapon are now being studied. The then UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement James Cartlidge told Parliament in February 2024 that the UK and the five other Meteor partner countries were assessing “mid-life options for Meteor” and were expected to reach a formal decision by the end of 2024. Initial Meteor Mid Life Activities are now under way, and are expected to result in a formal report by the end of 2025. Given agreement by the six Meteor partner nations, this will lead to the next stage of the programme. Replacing the existing seeker with one based on an AESA array would be a likely development, along with the use of an improved powerplant (perhaps incorporating variable-geometry intakes and more propellant).
A programme conducted in collaboration with MBDA UK had been expected to adapt Japan’s Ka-band AESA seeker technology for use on a derivative of the Meteor missile. Funding for the planned Joint New Air-to-Air Missile (JNAAM) programme was included in Japanese Ministry of Defense budget request for fiscal year 2023, and test flights were expected to begin in 2023 or 2024, leading to the start of production towards the end of the decade. However, there has been no recent news of the project, and the programme’s current status is unknown.
Beyond Meteor, several nations that have developed and fielded AMRAAM-class missiles plan to supplement these with ramjet-powered weapons. China had already done this in its PL-12D missile, the first variant of the PL-12 series to be ramjet-powered; it is reported to have a maximum range of more than 200 km.
India is also planning an air-breathing BVRAAM. In its current form, India’s Astra missile combines an ARH seeker, INS, and a solid-propellant rocket motor, but development of a ramjet-powered variant is under way in the form of the Astra Mk-III (also known as Gandiva). This is expected to have a maximum range of 340 km against high-altitude targets and around 190 km against targets flying at medium altitude. The new missile is reported to be 3.84 m long and around 200 mm in diameter. Powered by a solid-fuel ducted ramjet, it is reported to be able to fly ‘snap-up’ and ‘snap-down’ attacks, and able to engage targets flying at up to Mach 3.6. A two-way datalink will allow the missile to receive real-time target updates from the launch aircraft or from an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.
Türkiye is likewise looking toward air-breathing solutions. On 21 May 2021, Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defense signed a contract with Tübitak Sage for the development of the Gökhan ramjet-powered air-to-air missile system. The conceptual-design and preliminary-design phases of the project have been completed, and ground trials are currently being carried out. Subsystem and system verification tests are to be followed by captive flight trials, then air launches. Gökhan is likely to be around 5 m long. Although similar in configuration to Meteor, it uses rear fins of significantly lower span, a feature that may help make the weapon compatible with internal weapon bays. It is expected to arm F-16s that have been updated with the ÖZGÜR modernisation scheme, as well as the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Kaan 5th-Gen fighter.
Iran’s mystery missiles
Although Iran has publicised its development of several long-range air-to-air missiles, the status of these programmes remains uncertain. Development of a missile in the size and weight class of AMRAAM seems to have been beyond the capabilities of Iran’s aerospace industry of a decade ago, so the creation of heavier missiles seemed the most practical solution.
In 2018, Iran announced that it had begun production of the Fakour-90 long-range air-to-air missile. Fakour-90 has a reported maximum range of 160 km (less than the 190 km maximum range of Phoenix), and probably combines inertial mid-course guidance and a radar homing head, but whether the latter has semi-active or active modes remains a matter of conjecture, as is its electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) capability. At first sight this seemed to be a copy or derivative of the AIM-54 Phoenix, but in practice seems to have been based on the Sedjil, an Iranian missile that entered production in 1988.
Sedjil was an air-launched version of the US MIM-23 Hawk surface-to-air missile, and has a reported range of 90 km. Although the wings and tail fins of the Fakour-90 are similar to those of Phoenix, the fuselage and rocket motor seem to be based on those of Sedjil, and the missile incorporates a long fuselage-mounted cable duct similar to that seem on HAWK and Sedjil.
Little is known about Iran’s Maghsoud missile, which is expected to have a maximum range of 180 km. Development started in 2013, and flight trials were expected to begin in 2019, but there has been no recent news of this project.
The quest for yet-greater range
The US, Russia, and China have all developed air-to-air missiles that are much heavier than AMRAAM-class weapons in order to meet requirements for much greater range. The longest-range air-to-air missile to enter service with the USN is the AIM-174B, an air-to-air version of its RIM-174 SM-6 ERAM (Extended Range Active Missile), itself a derivative of the RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV. For terminal homing, the AIM-174B uses an active-radar seeker based on that of AMRAAM.
Developed under an unannounced Special Access Program, its existence was unknown until around 2018, when a photograph showed training versions of SM-6 normally used in the surface-to-air role being carried under the wing of a US Navy Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Following a successful Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E), the new missile was committed to full-rate production. Its existence was formally announced in July 2024, when it was operationally deployed for the first time. The range of the AIM-174B is classified but the ship-launched SM-6 surface-to-air naval version reportedly has a maximum range of 370 km.
Little is known about another US long-range BVRAAM designated the Long Range Engagement Weapon (LREW) whose existence was disclosed by the 2018 US National Defense Authorization Act. This programme is reported to be exploring the concept of a two-stage weapon that teams a small missile with booster stage. Press speculation has suggested that the missile may be of warheadless ‘hit-to-kill’ form. However, a released DoD artist’s impression of the weapon is probably misleading, since it shows the missile section as having a configuration similar to that of the Raytheon M982 Excalibur guided artillery round, but with fewer tail fins.
At the US Air Force Association’s annual Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in 2021, Boeing displayed a model of what it termed the Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM). This used a two-stage configuration based on a tandem-mounted booster section. Too large to fit within the internal weapons bay of the F-22 and F-35, it was obviously intended for external carriage. The second stage consisted of a missile intended to offer high manoeuvrability during the final stage of flight. Boeing stressed that the LRAAM was not intended to compete with the AIM-260, but could offer a further capability.
A clue to the existence of another long-range design came in December 2022, when Raytheon Missiles & Defense was awarded a contract worth an estimated USD 21 million to develop what were described as “critical subsystem technologies that support the Compact Air-to-Air Missile and Extended Range Air-to-Air Missile systems”. This work was due to be completed by the end of 2029.
By the early 1970s, Russia was prepared to accept heavy missile weight in order to field weapons that could comfortably outrange AMRAAM. The R-33 (AA-9 ‘Amos’) which entered service on the MiG-31 ‘Foxhound’ heavy interceptor in 1981 was Russia’s first Phoenix-class missile, even if its 120 km maximum range was less than that of the USN missile. However, its seeker was only of the semi-active radar type. Its replacement was to have been the R-37 (AA-13 ‘Arrow’), which used an active-radar seeker, but this programme fell victim to the shortage of defence-related R&D funding of the early 1990s, and was cancelled in 1994.
A follow-on development designated R-37M (AA-13 ‘Axehead’) outranges the AIM-120C/D, but its size and weight has restricted it to being carried only by the modernised version the MiG-31. It has a reported maximum speed of Mach 6, maximum range of 400 km, and carries a 60 kg warhead. The R-37M is reported to have seen action in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In 2009, Vympel won a contract to develop the Izdeliye 810, a missile with a range in the 300 km class. It uses wingless configuration, and is sized for carriage in the weapons bays of the Su-57. Firing trials began in July 2017.
Very little is known about a large wingless missile seen being carried by a J-16 fighter in a photograph that appeared on the Chinese internet in 2016. Around 6 m in length and 300 mm in diameter, it is reported to use a combination of AESA radar and passive IR guidance for terminal homing. Various estimates of its maximum range are in the 300-500 km category. Even its designation is a matter of conjecture – it has been described as the PL-17 or PL-20 by various sources. Designations such as PL-21 and PL-XX have been cited for what could be another extended-range missile.
Future air combat
During the air battles of the Vietnam War, US pilots were required to visually identify enemy aircraft before opening fire, a rule that prevented BVR engagements. As a result, pilots regarded the radar-guided AIM-7 Sparrow and IR-guided AIM-9 Sidewinder as alternative weapons. If launching one type did not result in a kill, they launched the second type.
According to a report published in 2015 by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, only a small number of air-combat kills during the 1970s could be attributed to BVRAAM missiles, but by the 1980s close to a third of all kills were achieved by this class of weapon. rising to just over half between 1990 and 2002.
Today, the long-range air-to-air missile is changing the shape of air combat operations. In October 2022 an R-37M successfully engaged a Ukrainian Su-27 at a range of 217 km, the longest-ever range for a BVRAAM kill.
As the brief air conflict between India and Pakistan in early May 2025 demonstrated, the standoff range offered by many types of air-to-surface missile can no longer guarantee the safety of the aircraft used to launch them. Since the pilot of the IAF Rafale shot down by a Pakistani PL-15 had apparently made no attempt to eject, it is possible that he was unaware – at least until the missile’s seeker activated – of the approaching threat.
Long-range air-to-air missiles may play a major role in reshaping future air combat. A February 2025 report in Weapons Magazine, a PRC government-owned defence publication, expressed concern over the capabilities of the AIM-174B, warning that it was probably the longest-range air-to-air missile in the world, and could engage an opponent’s bombers and maritime-patrol aircraft before these could launch their payload of anti-ship missiles. It also potentially threatens high-value targets flying in rear areas, including AEW&C aircraft and aerial refuelling tankers. “If these critical targets are destroyed. the other side’s operational system will verge on collapse,” the magazine warned.
In all the conflicts that the US has fought since the early 1940s, its ground forces have always operated under skies dominated by US air superiority. Yet if enemy aircraft are to operate more like snipers than as traditional air combatants, this degree of air superiority may prove hard to achieve.
Doug Richardson
