What is AIM-120 AMRAAM? NATO standard medium-range air-to-air missile.

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AIM-120 AMRAAM

Standard modern air-to-air missile of 40 countries

Raytheon Company (RTX) produces the medium-range active radar-guided air-to-air missile. It entered service in 1991 and has since become the NATO standard BVR (beyond visual range) air-to-air weapon. After launching the missile, pilots can immediately disengage — the missile locks onto the target using its own radar. It is equipped on F-15, F-16, F-18, Eurofighter, Griffin fighter, F-35, and Turkish F-16 aircraft. Turkey’s domestic alternative is GÖKDOĞAN.

Overview Features Comparison Sources

Range

≈160 km

AIM-120D

Guidance

Active radar

Fire-and-forget

Speed

≈Mach 4

Supersonic

Production

30,000+

40 countries

What is AIM-120 AMRAAM?

NATO standard BVR air-to-air missile

AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile), produced by Raytheon Company (now RTX), is a medium-range active radar-guided air-to-air missile. The AMRAAM, which entered service in 1991, has been the NATO standard air-to-air weapon for over 30 years.

Previously, U.S. and NATO aircraft used the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar missile. The Sparrow required pilots to keep the radar on the target until impact — during this time, pilots could not maneuver and were vulnerable to enemy counterattacks. The AMRAAM eliminated this limitation:

The pilot launches the AMRAAM.
Initially receives target updates via data link from the aircraft.
Activates its own radar at a certain distance.
The missile can now autonomously lock onto the target; the pilot can disengage immediately.

This “fire-and-forget” capability allows for multi-target launches — a single aircraft can launch multiple AMRAAMs and direct each missile at different targets.

Variants:

AIM-120A/B — Early variants, range ≈75 km.
AIM-120C — Improved version, range ≈100 km. AIM-120C-7 is used on Turkish F-16s.
AIM-120D — Latest variant, range ≈160 km, supports GPS guidance, with enhanced anti-jamming capabilities.
AIM-120D-3 — Integrated into F-35, latest model.

Turkish perspective: Turkish F-16s are equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM C-5 and C-7. In 2019, a Turkish F-16 shot down a Syrian Su-22 with an AMRAAM in Syria. Due to U.S. export license restrictions, Turkey developed a domestic GÖKDOĞAN BVR air-to-air missile (TÜBİTAK SAGE). Gökdoğan has entered service, and integration with the KAAN and F-16 is still ongoing.