In 1980 the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States initiated projects to develop new medium range and short range air to air missiles. At this time both the leading medium (Sparrow) and short range (Sidewinder) weapons, built by the U.S., were starting to show their age. In particular it was fast becoming clear that the Soviet Union were readying deployment of a highly advanced short range weapon, to be later designated AA-11 Archer by NATO. To this end it was agreed that while the Britain and Germay (later joined by Norway and Canada) develop an advanced short range weapon the U.S. would continue development of its advanced medium range solution. The parties initially signed Memorandums of Understanding to co-operate where possible and ultimately purchase each others solutions. The U.S. system would ultimately become the AMRAAM while Europe's solution was to be dubbed ASRAAM, Advanced Short Range Air to Air Missile.

Unfortunately as has become increasingly common with European programs a combined effort floundered early on. The fundamental causes lay with differing British and German requirements. The Royal Air Force wanted a high velocity, low drag system capable of engaging targets at increased ranges compared to the AIM-9 Sidewinder. The Luftwaffe however were concerned about short range super-manoeuvrability, something the Soviet AA-11 had in abundance. Even though common ground did exist in a number of areas such as over the shoulder launch capabilities and improved seeker design the fundamental operational requirements could not be reconciled. The matter was made worse when it became clear the European-U.S. agreement on co-operation had ceased to exist, the U.S. declaring their intention to develop an indigenous follow-on to the AIM-9. In 1989 these problems started to come to a head with Germany pulling out of the MoU followed in 1990 by the withdrawl of Norway, Canada and the U.S. However by this time the UK had sunk many millions of pounds into development of the ASRAAM and as such the decision was made to continue the programme.

In May 1991 tenders were issued for continued development and procurement of the new short range missle. This led to a number of proposals, BAe Dynamics with ASRAAM, an upgraded AIM-9L by Germany's BGT and Matra/GEC-Marconi with MICA ASRAAM. A number of additional proposals were received by were dismissed as not meeting fundamental UK requirements. In March 1992 BAe Dynamics (now Matra-BAe Dynamics) was awarded the contract to design and build ASRAAM under SR(A)-1234. Germany would later combine forces with Sweden, Italy and Canada to develop a vastly improved Sidewinder of their own, IRIS-T.

MBDA ASRAAM © MBDA

The fundamental design brief for ASRAAM is one of high speed, high agility, extended range and improved target acquisition. To achieve these targets the missile incorporates several fundamental improvements over the AIM-9 series. To improve range ASRAAM features a low drag design, only tail fins are provided for control purposes. The weapons propulsion is provided by a new 6" low signature dual-burn high impulse solid rocket motor based on a novel strip-steel laminate design. Compared to the AIM-9's 4" motor this new design improves both the instantaneous acceleration and maximum cruise velocity. One significant omission is the lack of Thrust Vectoring Control (TVC) which allied with the new motor would provide for improved off-rail agility. Such a system has been proposed as a possible upgrade (via an add-on tail unit) with the new missile being designated P3I-ASRAAM. It is however unclear whether the UK intends to fund such a program and thus it would presumably be down to overseas purchasers to carry out such work. However, even without TVC the ASRAAM is capable of pulling around 50G off the rail.

Apart from the basic aerodynamic and propulsion improvements the major advantage gained by ASRAAM over the current AIM-9 series can be found in its seeker. This new seeker, developed by Hughes (now Raytheon) is a sapphire domed staring imaging infra red array with a resolution of 128 by 128 pixels. When combined with digital signal processing and dedicated imaging software ASRAAM is able to see its target. Indeed it is even possible for the software to designate individual areas of the aircraft, engines, cockpit, wing, etc. Such a capability should vastly improve the weapons ability to counter simple infra red counter measures, such as flares or similar pyrotechnics. In addition to the ability to image targets the seeker also allows high off-boresight (90 degrees in any direction) launches. When combined with an appropriate cueing system, such as the Eurofighter's flight helmet the pilot can effectively launch the weapon over the shoulder. In addition ASRAAM can take cueing data from the aircrafts on-board radar. In addition a Defence Procurement Agency (DPA) sponsored study has led to the missile being enhanced to effectively engage targets to the rear of the launch aircraft.

The seeker itself is also to be deployed on the U.S. Evolved Sidewinder, the AIM-9X. Although the missile is designed as a kinetic hitile weapon it does feature a newly designed High Explosive fragmentation warhead coupled with a laser promixity fuze (detonation can occur upon impact or at a pre-determined distance from the target). A larger warhead has been proposed as a possible upgrade which would use existing space within the front of the missile. The missile interface and loading procedures are 100% compatible with existing AIM-9 Sidewinder sequences. Therefore any aircraft capable of carrying and firing the Sidewinder can carry and launch ASRAAM. However aircraft fitted with at least a MIL-STD-1553 interface will be able to more fully utilise the weapon.

Initial deliveries of ASRAAM to the RAF occured in December 1998. These first deliveries are being used for assessment and integration upon Eurofighter (where it will be the RAFs primary SRAAM), Harrier's (both Royal Navy and Royal Air Force) and for use at the Tornado F.3 OEU (the F.3 having undergone conversion to carry both ASRAAM and AMRAAM). So far eight test firings have been completed including the sucessful engagement and destruction of three F-4 Phantom II drones. Between September 2001 and May 2002 an additional six test firings will be carried out to verify various advanced capabilities and alternative target scenarios. The final In-Service Date (ISD) has been delayed to December 2001 in order to allow further development time while the launch platforms are upgraded to carry the weapon.

In early 1998 the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) selected ASRAAM as its AIM-9 successor against competing systems from Rafael (Python-4) and Hughes/Raytheon (AIM-9X). Initial conversion is underway to upgrade the RAAF's F-18 Hornet's to carry the weapon. Beyond the UK and Australia a number of other countries have expressed an interest in ASRAAM, these include; Greece, Spain Switzerland and South Korea. In addition the UK is considering fitting ASRAAM in place of AIM-9 aboard the RAF's fleet of Tornado GR.4 aircraft (reducing the number of types of missile in RAF service).

* : Note that all ranges quoted are based on mean figures from various data sources. Actual achievable range will depend on a great number of factors and may be no where near those quoted.