Forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics

What do you guys think of the idea of using the RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile as the basis for a new Anti-Radiation Missile for the F-22 and F-35? It seems perfect for this purpose.

(1) The ESSM is a 10" missile with folding aft fins such that it fits neatly in a 10"x10" envelope. What this means is that it can be a 1 for 1 replacement for an AMRAAM in the F-22 and possibly two will fit on the 2000 lb station in the F-35.

(2) The ESSM is 3.66 m long which is identical to the AIM-120 length wise.

(3) The ESSM is 10" which makes it a perfect candidate to graft the 10" guidance and warhead section of the AGM-88 HARM or AARGM missiles onto.

(4) The ESSM is a 50km SAM when launched from a ship. This makes it in essence at least a 200km air launched weapon when delivered from high altitude and with a supersonic release -- the SLAMRAAM is a mere 16km SAM but is at least a 60~70km AAM even in its earlier iterations. A 200km reach is more than enough for an anti-radiation missile.

(5) The ESSM is a Mach 4+ weapon even as a SAM and should be at least a Mach 4.5+ missile in an air launched hi-lo engagement. This is extraodrinary performance for an anti-radiation missile.

In fact, if you come to think of it, fitting an AMRAAM forebody to the ESSM booster makes for a turnkey interim long range 200km AAM solution -- no need for RAMJET or VFDRs. And, it'll fit in the F-22 and the F-35 as is.

F-16.net Sponsor

Why bother with a anti-radiation missile when you have sensors precise enough to locate a SAM/radar site onboard both types of aircraft? The sensors on the Raptor and JSF are quite exceptional. A supersonical released JDAM or SDB would be more then adequate to permanently take down the site from significant ranges especially considered the Raptor can release SDBs and JDAMs from Mach 1.9 and 60 000ft.

I said essentially the same thing in a post several months ago. all I heard was a bunch of crickets chirping in reply. For using ESSM as an AAM that is. As for using it as an antiradiation missile see HSAD. That's the ramjet version of HARM that is apparently still being worked on.

probably simpler and cheaper to reprogram an AMRAAM to do the job..it already has a "homeon jam"mode so it should be easily modifiable to follow radar transmissions back to their source..

mabie wrote:

probably simpler and cheaper to reprogram an AMRAAM to do the job..it already has a "homeon jam"mode so it should be easily modifiable to follow radar transmissions back to their source..

You're missing the point. the idea is to provide the Raptor with a weapon more powerful than AMRAAM that is pretty much already in existence. I say "pretty much" because they'd still have to swap out seekers.

Well, the U.S. is working on high concentration energy weapons which are small enough to fit on an F-35 and it would have a range of 10 miles and it would be used things such as scuds and vehicles. I mention this because I don't believe it requires ammunition. I just mention this as another possibillity and to just throw it in there. So go ahead and discuss.

Forum: F-35 Armament, Stores and Tactics

ESSM as an internal anti-radiation missile for F-35 and F-22