Although
he’s generally satisfied with the range of weapons in his inventory, Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said he’s anxious to get going on a new air superiority missile. “We need to move out on … a fifth-generation weapon for our fifth-generation fighters,” in the form of the DRADM, which stands for Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile. The DRADM is supposed to deliver sharp improvement increases over the existing AIM-9 and AIM-120 dogfight missiles, particularly in the terminal phase.
The Pentagon announced new long-term agreements with four defense companies May 13 to develop and produce large numbers of low-cost cruise missiles. And while the effort will focus mostly on the Army to start, it pairs with Air Force efforts to find more affordable munitions.