On becoming a UK national project, a competition resulted in the award of contract to British Aerospace Defence Division, now Matra BAe Dynamics (UK) Ltd, in April 1992 for development and initial production.

An option for a second tranche of missiles was placed in June 1995.

The first deliveries of pre-production training missiles were delivered to the RAF in December 1998, and are in use on aircraft integration programmes and at the F3 OEU. The first operational missile deliveries commenced in January 2002. The RAF Tornado F3 fleet has been equipped by the Capability Sustainment Programme to operate with ASRAAM, and work is underway to integrate the missile on to Typhoon.

Four ASRAAM were successfully launched by Typhoon F2s of No 3 (Fighter) Sqn based at RAF Coningsby, near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, at the Aberporth weapons range in Cardigan Bay, Wales, during the week 26 February to 02 March 2007.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS / TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE 

ASRAAM is a next generation high performance, Short Range, air-to-air missile which offers a great increase in performance over current systems, and provides combat superiority against all present and projected threats. The design is wingless, with aerodynamic tail control giving a fast, highly agile missile. Target acquisition and track is achieved by an advanced imaging infrared seeker and state of the art image processing. The Electronics and Power Unit, the brain of the missile, is one of the most powerful computer systems ever used in a missile. It offers all round target designation to complement the aircraft's own sensors, allowing targets to be acquired anywhere in the forward hemisphere. The missile has been designed as a hittile; however, target kill is enhanced by the high energy, fragmentation warhead which is initiated either by impact or by proximity to the target.

ASRAAM is delivered to the RAF as a fully assembled missile in an All-up-Round (AUR), hermetically sealed container. The missile has been designed to remain in its container throughout its life and to be ready for operational use without any preparation or maintenance. In the event of a missile fault, the complete missile is returned to industry for repair.

ASRAAM offers a low risk, low-cost solution to all current AIM 9 users by virtue of its compatible aircraft interface; the missile can be fitted to any aircraft capable of firing AIM 9 without modification to the aircraft or aircraft interface. Greater performance and more advanced features are available for aircraft that can support a digital interface to the missile.

A further enhancement in capability has been secured by one of the DPA’s first Smart Procurement deals. This deal secured the potential to also engage missiles in the launch aircraft's rear hemisphere, and delayed the bulk of missile production to better align missile availability with launch platform needs.

COSTS / IN-SERVICE DATE (ISD) / MAJOR MILESTONES / QUANTITIES

The ASRAAM programme was let at a contract value of around £800m. Deliverables include Ground Handling Training Missiles (GHTM), Acquisition Training Missiles (ATM), Telemetry Operational Missiles (TOM), Operational Missiles (OM) and service test equipment.

The development programme includes 14 guided firings by the contractor. To date 12 development firings have been completed. The remaining firings are designed to validate the software against a variety of engagement scenarios and to exercise some of the missile's more advanced capabilities.

COMMERCIAL ASPECTS

Matra BAE Dynamics are the prime contractor for ASRAAM and manufacture the Electronics and Power Unit. Major sub-contractors include Raytheon Systems Ltd for the Seeker, Royal Ordnance the Rocket Motor, LFK GmbH the Sensor, Hymatic Engineering the Cooling System, Thomson-Thorn Missile Electronics the Fuze, Thompson DASA Wirksysteme (Germany) the Warhead and Lucas Aerospace the Actuator.

The main competition for ASRAAM on the world market is the US AIM-9X missile, still in development, and which uses a variant of the ASRAAM seeker, and the Israeli Python 4. Germany are also developing their own IRIS T missile to equip their Typhoon aircraft.