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AIM-424 Malice
As the photos in this post show, the Department of Navy is developing the Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-424 Long Range Air to Air Missile (LRAAM), a next-generation missile intended to strengthen fleet defense and maintain a decisive air domain overmatch against advanced threats. Also known as Malice, LRAAM directly supports the Department’s contribution to integrated deterrence by increasing range, lethality, and combat effectiveness for Marine and Naval aviation forces that are defending our fleets, our interests, and our homeland.
The weapon was publicly disclosed at the Tailhook symposium in Reno, Nevada, on Aug. 22, 2026, at which point it was already in flight testing.
Development of the missile has been linked to Navy requirements for greater engagement range from carrier-based aircraft in response to the threat of Chinese air-launched anti-ship ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with ranges in excess of 1,000 nautical miles.
The photos were released by Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. The first image shows an AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) is mounted in the internal weapons bay of an F-35C with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) mounted on the weapon bay door.
The second picture instead features four AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM) are loaded on an F/A-18E Super Hornet from Navy Air Test And Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) for a test event.
LRAAM sustains the Department’s first look, first shot, first kill advantage by providing our aviators greater reach, greater survivability, and greater tactical flexibility in the air-to-air fight. Built for 4th, 5th, and 6th generation platforms, the AIM-424 is designed for the air wing of today and the future.
AIM-260 JATM
The Malice is being developed by Raytheon and has a range in excess of 250 nm (463 km) featuring a blast fragmentation warhead and a weight of 1500 pounds (680.4 kg).
As reported by Aviation Week, the AIM-424 concept may have been under lengthy development under the Long-Range Engagement Weapon (LREW) special access program. First disclosed in 2017, LREW was a USAF-driven requirement for a two-stage air-to-air missile that could be carried in the internal weapons bay of a stealth fighter (F-35 or F-22), a similar use case to AIM-424. AIM-424 is a separate program from the Lockheed Martin AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), which the Navy and the Air Force are preparing to field at the time of the AIM-424’s disclosure.
The AIM-260 is a new air-dominance missile for the USAF and Navy with significantly greater range than the Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) as a counter to China’s new PL-15 weapon.
The AIM-260 JATM was scheduled to begin flight testing in 2021 and achieving initial operational capability in 2022, said Brig. Gen. Anthony Genatempo in 2019, who at the time was the Air Force’s program executive officer for weapons.
AIM-174B
As already explained, besides the AIM-260 the US Navy announced in July 2024 that it had operationally deployed an air-launched variant of the RIM-174, designated AIM-174B Standard Missile 6 Air Launched Configuration.
A Super Hornet carrying what appeared to be an SM-6 while in flight was photographed for the first time in April 2021.
Then, in June 2024, the AIM-174B appeared on USN F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft at the biennial RIMPAC exercise.
The AIM-174 is an air-to-air variant of the SM-6 and is the first dedicated long-range air-to-air missile employed by the USN since the 2004 retirement of the AIM-54 Phoenix carried by the iconic F-14 Tomcat.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy
