Raytheon has been awarded a $972 million contract for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) upgrades. This is the first AMRAAM contract for producing an entire batch of AIM-120D3 and AIM-120C8 missiles developed under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh, or F3R, program, which updates both the missile's hardware and software.
The contract not only supplies missiles to the US Air Force and Navy but also AMRAAMs to 19 countries, extending the production line for the US and Allied partners.
Engineers used model-based systems engineering initiatives and other digital technologies in the F3R program to upgrade multiple circuit cards and other hardware in the missile"s guidance section and re-host software in the AIM-120D3 AIM-120C8 AMRAAMs. These variants combine System Improvement Program 3F software updates with F3R hardware, providing additional protection against advanced threats.
In June 2022, the US Air Force conducted the first live-fire test of the production version of the AIM-120D3, demonstrating the missile"s success against a target. Two more live fires are scheduled for 2022.
