The U.S. Navy’s VX-9 “Vampires” Test and Evaluation Squadron has once again been seen slinging a RIM-176 ERAM onboard one of their Super Hornets. VX-9, based out of Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake, operates a twelve aircraft mix of F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, and F-35C Lightning IIs.
In 2021, a VX-31 F/A-18F was spotted carrying an inert SM-6 without its 21-inch MK72 first-stage booster, prompting discussion that the missile could be a new outsized air-to-air weapon for extremely long-range engagements. This discussion was furthered by Raytheon’s involvement in the classified Long-Range Engagement Weapon (LREW) program for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy which set out to develop a very long-range air-to-air missile.
The LREW concept combines proven components from existing missile systems with new, innovative technologies to provide a leap-ahead increase in overall performance. Efforts included analysis validating systems design, wind tunnel testing, engineering assessments, and kill chain investigations to inform potential future programs for the Navy and Air Force.
FY2018 RDT&E Budget Documentation
While the LREW effort shifted entirely to the U.S. Air Force in 2019–with a contract awarded to Raytheon in 2022–it is clear that the U.S. Navy has continued its own efforts to integrate a long-range air-to-air weapon for its own fighter fleet. This month, a VX-9 Super Hornet was spotted carrying an inert SM-6. Taken by @StinkPlove on X, an aviation photographer based on the West Coast of the United States, the orange and gray SM-6 is seen on the Super Hornet’s number 7 pylon.
The push to integrate and certify the SM-6 for air-launched capability comes as the PLA Air Force rolls out new long-range air-to-air weapons like the PL-15 and PL-17 that outrange existing U.S. Navy air-to-air weapons. At its surface-to-air published range, the SM-6 achieves ranges of 130 nmi (240 km) with even higher estimated ranges up to 250 nmi (463 km). An air-launched variant would dramatically increase that range, giving a Carrier Air Wing (CAW) more reach to defeat distant targets.
The SM-6 uses an X-band receiver for guidance purposes, so guidance by F/A-18E/F AN/APG-79 or F-35C AN/APG-81 AESA radars is possible. In practice, forward-based F-35C fighters could guide the missiles to target while less survivable Super Hornets launch them from safe distances. Super Hornets also have the ability to communicate fire control data through the Navy’s Naval Integrated Fire Control–Counter Air (NIFC-CA) datalink system.
An air-launched SM-6 capability would also bring another high speed, long-range surface and land strike option into the fold, offering more options for time sensitive land attack or maritime strike needs that can be delivered from fighter aircraft, adding to the diversifying weapons portfolio for the U.S. Navy’s CAWs.
