The Air Force and Raytheon moved one step closer to fielding an improved capability against adversary’s air defenses, conducting a successful test shot of an upgraded High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM). In the test, an F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron fired the improved AGM-88F, with the HARM Control Section Modification (HCSM), at an emitter located outside of an exclusion zone that held a similar emitter. The HCSM used its new global positioning system/inertial measurement unit capability to find and hit the correct emitter, Raytheon said in a company release. The test was conducted on the Utah Test and Training Range, by the F-16 flying out of Hill AFB, Utah. The Air Force awarded Raytheon the HCSM contract in 2012. The improved missile recently was cleared for full-rate production. An additional test shot that is required to determine if it is ready for deployment by the Air Force was conducted Aug. 6, and the results are pending, Raytheon representative Ashley Mehl said. The HCSM improvement gives the HARM greater accuracy, allows it to engage a wider range of modern air defenses and is resistant to counter-measures, the company said.
The latest round of environmental sampling for the Air Force’s Missile Community Cancer Study found trace amounts of potentially harmful chemicals called volatile organic compounds in the service’s ICBM facilities, but not at levels that would pose a health hazard, Air Force Global Strike Command announced Oct. 22.