US Navy unveils air-to-air missile capable of striking targets at a range of 465 km

The U.S. Navy announced that it is testing a new air-to-air missile capable of striking targets at distances exceeding 290 miles (465 kilometers), a range far surpassing that of any other known weapon of its kind.

According to Bloomberg News on Sunday, the U.S. Navy stated that the AIM-424 MALIS missile, developed by Raytheon Technologies, has dimensions nearly identical to those of the current AIM-120 AMRAAM missile in service.

Peter Layton, a former Royal Australian Air Force officer and visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, said that missiles with such range could be used to target high-value aircraft, such as command and control planes or aerial refueling tankers, but they may be even more valuable for ship defense.

Layton added, “I believe the objective is to counter Chinese bombers launching long-range anti-ship cruise missiles; it is intended for fleet air defense, not for air-to-air combat.”