Pentagon Cuts New AIM-260 Air-To-Air Missile Production Deal, Testing Accelerating

By Joseph Trevithick

Published Sep 17, 2026 12:13 PM EDT

Jonathan Tweedy/@flightline_visuals

The Pentagon has reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin to lay the groundwork for stepped-up production and delivery of new AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missiles (JATM) to the U.S. military and allied air arms in the coming years. The AIM-260 is still in development, but the head of the Air Force Test Center also touted efforts to further accelerate that work just earlier this week. From the start, the U.S. military has presented JATM as especially critical for ensuring China, with its own growing array of longer-range air-to-air missiles , does not gain an edge in future air combat.

The new framework agreement announced today “is critical to ensuring long-term demand signals flow to key suppliers, allowing Lockheed Martin and the munitions supply chain to invest in manufacturing capacity, workforce, and production efficiencies,” according to a Pentagon press release . “It establishes a framework for future Multi-Year Procurement (MYP) of JATM, executing congressional authority to secure the nation’s highest-priority missile systems.”

“This agreement forms the foundational agreement for a multiyear procurement contract, pending Congressional approval, that provides long-term demand to strengthen and expand the defense industrial base for the program,” according to a separate release from Lockheed Martin .

A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet seen carrying an AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM). Jonathan Tweedy/ @flightline_visuals

In response to questions from TWZ , the Pentagon declined to comment on the projected number of JATMs covered under this agreement, as well as estimated costs and delivery schedules.

U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors are expected to be the first types to fly operationally armed with AIM-260s. Integration on other platforms, such as variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Air Force’s forthcoming F-47 sixth-generation fighter , is expected to follow. JATM, which is designed to have the same general form factor as the existing AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), has been discussed as part of the arsenal for the Air Force’s future Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones , as well.

A rendering depicting an F-22 Raptor firing an AIM-260 JATM. USAF

The releases today from the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin confirm that the new framework deal also includes planned foreign military sales of AIM-260s. Australia, one of America’s top allies, is the first confirmed international customer for the JATM, and plans to integrate the missiles on its F/A-18Fs, F-35As, and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jets. The Royal Australian Air Force’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat CCA-type drones, initial versions of which are already capable of firing AIM-120s , might be another AIM-260 launch platform in the future.

The AIM-260 remains in development, with the Navy and Air Force test communities supporting that work.

“We are accelerating weapons development from high-end air dominance weapons like the JATM to hypersonic strike systems like the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, head of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base in California, told TWZ and other outlets at a media roundtable yesterday. The roundtable took place at the Air & Space Forces Association’s (AFA) 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference .

“We’re actively testing JATM, and it’s progressing along its program path. In test, we are working through the development stages there,” Massaro added. “So, we’re testing it in [sic] the ground with models, like I mentioned. We’re testing it in the air on aircraft. So, from a performance standpoint, I’ll hold on to that from an operational security perspective. But we’re happy seeing where it’s going, and we expect that to be a key piece of capability for our warfighters to have.”

“Just from a testing perspective, we’re always looking at making sure that we’ve got the throughput,” he added when asked if he could talk about challenges or other issues AFTC has run up against in work on the AIM-260. “So, from a test perspective only, infrastructure and throughput to make sure that we can get things out … and make the testing happen. But I’m not, from a capabilities perspective, worried about the system.”

Another look at the AIM-260 loaded on the Navy Super Hornet. Jonathan Tweedy/ @flightline_visuals

It is unclear when the first operational AIM-260s may begin entering the U.S. inventory. When the program was first disclosed to the public in 2019, the stated goal was to start fielding the missiles in 2022. There were also reports in late 2025 that funding issues had caused a three-month delay , based on a fact sheet distributed to some members of the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services. The committee later said that the information was incorrect .

Work to date on JATM has been conducted under a heavy veil of secrecy, with the existence of the program only being announced in 2019 . The first public glimpse of the missile only emerged in May of this year . Beyond the aforementioned size requirement and that the new missile will offer significantly greater engagement range over the AIM-120, details remain limited. Readers can learn more about what we do know so far here .

What is clear is that the growing reach of Chinese air-to-air missiles has been a key driver behind the JATM program, with Air Force officials having explicitly mentioned the PL-15 in the past. China continues to pursue even longer-ranged and otherwise more advanced air-to-air missiles, as you can learn more about in this past TWZ feature . The Air Force has previously raised the prospect of a general threat ecosystem that includes anti-missiles with ranges of up to 1,000 miles emerging by 2050.

The AIM-260 is not the only longer-ranged air-to-air missile known to be in development in the United States, either. In 2024, the Navy revealed it had begun fielding an air-launched version of the surface-launched Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), called the AIM-174B Gunslinger , at least on a limited level. Just in August of this year, the service disclosed the existence of another very long-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-424 Malice , which has already reached the flight testing phase of development.

A US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet test jet with four AIM-174B missiles under its wings. point_mugu_skies

A US Navy Super Hornet test jet carrying a load of AIM-424 Malice missiles. USN

An Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine last month that the service was “closely following” the Navy’s work on the AIM-424. In June, the Air Force itself shared details about another potential future air-to-air missile, dubbed the Air Force Long Range Weapon (AFLRW) , including a target requirement for a maximum range of at least 1,000 nautical miles.

Based on past experiences with public disclosures about the AIM-260, AIM-174B, and AIM-424 programs, additional work on advanced longer-range air-to-air missiles is certainly ongoing easily be going on in the classified realm.

Today’s announcement about the new framework agreement, together with Brig. Gen. Massaro’s brief update yesterday, makes clear there is a continued commitment to JATM amid a still-growing field of new, longer-range air-to-air missiles.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

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作者：约瑟夫·特雷维西克

发布于美国东部时间2026年9月17日下午12:13

乔纳森·特威迪/@flightline_visuals

五角大楼已与洛克希德·马丁公司达成协议，为未来几年内加快生产和交付新型AIM-260联合先进战术导弹（JATM）给美国军方及其盟国空军奠定基础。AIM-260仍在研发中，但空军测试中心负责人本周早些时候也强调了进一步加快研发工作的努力。从一开始，美军就将JATM视为至关重要的武器，以确保中国——凭借其日益丰富的远程空空导弹——不会在未来的空战中获得优势。

据五角大楼新闻稿称，今天宣布的新框架协议“对于确保长期需求信号流向关键供应商至关重要，使洛克希德·马丁公司和弹药供应链能够投资于制造能力、劳动力和生产效率”。“它为未来联合自动导弹系统（JATM）的多年采购（MYP）建立了框架，执行了国会授权，以确保国家最高优先级的导弹系统得到保障。”

洛克希德·马丁公司在另一份新闻稿中表示：“该协议构成多年采购合同的基础协议，尚待国会批准，该合同将为加强和扩大该项目的国防工业基础提供长期需求。”

一架美国海军F/A-18F超级大黄蜂战斗机被拍到携带AIM-260联合先进战术导弹（JATM）。图片来源：Jonathan Tweedy/ @flightline_visuals

针对 TWZ 的提问，五角大楼拒绝就该协议涵盖的 JATM 预计数量、预计成本和交付时间表发表评论。

美国海军的F/A-18E/F“超级大黄蜂”战斗机和美国空军的F-22“猛禽”战斗机预计将成为首批装备AIM-260导弹的作战机型。随后，其他平台，例如F-35联合攻击战斗机的各种型号以及空军即将服役的第六代战斗机F-47，预计也将进行集成。此外，AIM-260导弹的设计外形与现有的AIM-120先进中程空空导弹（AMRAAM）基本相同，并且已被讨论作为空军未来协同作战飞机（CCA）无人机武器库的一部分。

一张渲染图，描绘了一架F-22猛禽战斗机发射AIM-260 JATM导弹的场景。美国空军

五角大楼和洛克希德·马丁公司今天发布的消息证实，新的框架协议也包括计划中的AIM-260导弹对外军售。澳大利亚是美国最重要的盟友之一，也是首个确认的AIM-260导弹国际客户，并计划将其集成到F/A-18F、F-35A和EA-18G“咆哮者”电子战飞机上。澳大利亚皇家空军的MQ-28“幽灵蝙蝠”CCA型无人机（其初始版本已具备发射AIM-120导弹的能力）未来也可能成为AIM-260导弹的发射平台。

AIM-260 仍在研发中，海军和空军的测试部门正在支持这项工作。

“我们正在加速武器研发，从像联合空中优势导弹（JATM）这样的高端空中优势武器，到像高超音速攻击巡航导弹这样的高超音速打击系统，”空军准将马克·马萨罗（Mark Massaro）昨天在加州爱德华兹空军基地空军测试中心（AFTC）举行的媒体圆桌会议上告诉TWZ和其他媒体。此次圆桌会议是空军与航天部队协会（AFA）2026年航空航天网络大会的一部分。

“我们正在积极测试JATM，它正按计划推进。在测试阶段，我们正在推进各个开发阶段的工作，”马萨罗补充道。“正如我之前提到的，我们正在使用模型进行地面测试，也在飞机上进行空中测试。因此，从性能角度来看，出于作战安全考虑，我暂时保密。但我们很高兴看到它的发展方向，并期望它能成为我们作战人员的一项关键能力。”

当被问及能否谈谈空军测试司令部在AIM-260导弹研发过程中遇到的挑战或其他问题时，他补充道：“仅从测试角度来看，我们一直在确保测试吞吐量。所以，仅从测试角度而言，基础设施和吞吐量至关重要，以确保我们能够顺利完成测试。但从系统性能的角度来看，我并不担心。”

再来看看海军超级大黄蜂战机上挂载的AIM-260导弹。Jonathan Tweedy/ @flightline_visuals

目前尚不清楚首批AIM-260导弹何时能够正式列装美国军队。该项目于2019年首次向公众披露时，当时的既定目标是在2022年开始部署导弹。2025年末曾有报道称，由于资金问题，部署计划推迟了三个月，这一说法源自一份分发给美国众议院军事委员会部分成员的情况说明书。但该委员会后来表示，这一信息并不准确。

迄今为止，JATM导弹的研发工作一直处于高度保密状态，该项目的存在直到2019年才正式公布。导弹的首次公开亮相也只是在今年5月。除了前文提到的尺寸要求以及新型导弹的射程将远超AIM-120之外，其他细节仍然十分有限。读者可以点击此处了解更多目前已知的信息。

显而易见，中国空空导弹射程的不断提升是联合空空导弹（JATM）项目背后的关键驱动因素，空军官员此前也曾明确提及PL-15导弹。正如您在之前的TWZ专题报道中了解更多相关信息，中国仍在持续研发射程更远、技术更先进的空空导弹。空军此前曾提出，到2050年，可能会出现射程达1000英里的反导系统，构成一个复杂的威胁生态系统。

AIM-260并非美国唯一正在研发的远程空空导弹。2024年，美国海军透露已开始部署一种名为AIM-174B“枪手”的空射型标准-6导弹（SM-6），该导弹是SM-6的陆基版本，目前部署规模有限。就在今年8月，海军又披露了另一种超远程空空导弹AIM-424“恶意”的存在，该导弹已进入飞行测试阶段。

一架美国海军F/A-18F超级大黄蜂测试机，机翼下挂载四枚AIM-174B导弹。

一架美国海军超级大黄蜂测试机，携带大量AIM-424“恶意”导弹。

空军发言人上个月告诉《空军与太空部队杂志》，空军正在“密切关注”海军的AIM-424导弹研发工作。今年6月，空军自己也公布了另一款潜在的未来空空导弹——空军远程武器（AFLRW）的细节，其中包括最大射程至少达到1000海里的目标要求。

根据以往公开披露 AIM-260、AIM-174B 和 AIM-424 项目的经验，对先进远程空空导弹的进一步研究肯定仍在进行中，而且很可能是在保密领域进行的。

今天宣布的新框架协议，加上马萨罗准将昨天的简要汇报，清楚地表明，尽管新型远程空空导弹领域仍在不断发展，但对联合空中导弹技术（JATM）的承诺依然不变。

联系作者：joe@twz.com

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