June 22, 2011:
After eight years of development, the latest version of the American anti-radiation missile, the AGM-88E, has entered service. This came two years after development tests were completed. The first production models were delivered late last year. The AGM-88E is currently being tested on the new electronic warfare aircraft, the EA-18G, which is just entering service. AGM-88E testing ran into problems last year when there were more hardware failures than expected. By the end of the year, these problems were cleared up.
The U.S. anti-radiation missile that is being replaced, the AGM-88D, uses GPS so that the missile, which normally homes in on radar transmissions, can be used to attack targets by location alone. The AGM-88 moves at high speed (2,200 kilometers an hour, or 36 kilometers a minute) to hit targets 100 kilometers away. That's why it's also called HARM (High speed Anti-Radiation Missile). The D version of the AGM-88 costs nearly $100,000 each. The standard version uses more complex sensors which can detect and guide the missile to a wide variety of radar signals. These versions cost about $300,000 each. GPS enables HARM (or the aircraft carrying it) to locate a radar when it is turned on, store the GPS location, then go after the target regardless of whether the ground radar is turned on or off. Over 23,000 AGM-88s, of all types, have been produced in the last three decades.
The new AGM-88E, uses a more expensive approach to nailing enemy radars that are turned on briefly, and attempt to avoid destruction by quickly turning off power. This missile, also called the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), was developed jointly by U.S. and Italian firms. The original AGM-88 has been in use since the 1980s. The original 1960s anti-radiation missile (ARM) quickly evolved into the HARM.
The AGM-88E remembers where the radar is when it was on, and carries its own high resolution (millimeter wave) radar to make sure it gets the radar. Finally, the AGM-88E can transmit a picture of the target, just before it is hit, so the user can be certain of what was taken out. Currently, there are orders for over 2,000 of these missiles from the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, Italy and Germany.