Sidewinder fired in Navy weapons test

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Raytheon said Tuesday its Sidewinder missile was used in a U.S. Navy weapons program last year.

Raytheon said in a statement that its "AIM-9X Sidewinder short-range air-to-air missile was employed in the Navy's Weapon System User program late last year."

"The Weapons System User program focuses on examining cutting-edge tactical employment by the war fighter, and this event demonstrated the maturity of the AIM-9X weapon system. The AIM-9X has been fired more than 137 times in the past eight years by the developmental and operational test communities of the U.S. Navy and Air Force," Raytheon said.

"This test shot demonstrates AIM-9X is a mature system that the tactical war fighter can successfully and reliably employ in combat," said Brock McCaman, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems Air-to-Air product line. "By partnering with the customer and evaluating the missile in a fleet environment, we can continue to improve the world's most capable short-range air-to-air missile."

"During the test, the AIM-9X was fired by an F/A-18C Hornet from the Rampagers of the Navy's Strike Fighter Squadron 83 -- VFA-83 -- against a QF-4 target drone. The missile successfully guided to the target and met all primary test objectives," Raytheon said.

Raytheon said the AIM-9X was "a launch-and-leave air combat missile that uses passive infrared energy for acquisition and tracking, which can be employed in near-beyond visual range and within visual range arenas. It has extremely high off- bore-sight capability, which gives a pilot first-shot, first-kill dominance. "

The AIM-9X "provides greatly enhanced acquisition ranges in blue sky and clutter, and IR countermeasures deliver the capacity to resist ever-changing threats. The AIM- 9X has a highly agile airframe, and its fifth-generation seeker and thrust vectoring control provide unprecedented performance," Raytheon said.