Sidewinder to take aim at ground targets

A software tweak will transform the venerable Sidewinder missile, known for its air-to-air precision, into a weapon that can strike rapidly moving targets on the ground.

With three tests already proving that the AIM-9X Sidewinder can zero in on a boat or armored personnel carrier, the next step is to refine the way pilots aim and launch them, said Jeffrey White, AIM-9X program manager at Raytheon Co., which developed the missiles. Those tests begin this year.

Versions of the supersonic Sidewinder have flown on Air Force fighters since the mid-1950s as a missile intended to shoot down aircraft. The Air Force pays about $84,000 apiece for the AIM-9X, the latest Sidewinder variant, but the cost of the additional air-to-ground capability has not been determined.

Air Combat Command requested the upgrade because it wants one missile capable of attacking air and ground targets. This would allow the same fighter to fly air patrols and ground combat missions without having to land and change the mix of weapons onboard. “This capability could prove useful in limited air-to-surface scenarios if time is critical and a more suitable air-to-ground weapon is not available,” said Col. Eric Theisen, chief of ACC’s Advanced Programs Division.

The air-to-ground capability would be a first for the F-15C Eagle, which flies only air-to-air combat patrols. The missile also is standard gear for F-16 Fighting Falcons, A-10 Thunderbolts, F-22 Raptors, Navy F/A-18s and joint F-35 Lightning IIs.

Just like in air-to-air combat, the pilot points the missile’s infrared sensor at a ground target, waits for the missile to lock on to its target, and fires. The AIM-9X then chases down its prey with its heat-seeking guidance system. The capability of shooting targets on the ground would not require a change to the hardware, but new software would have to be downloaded into each missile’s guidance system.

In September, a Sidewinder launched from an F-16C destroyed a rapidly moving boat in the Gulf of Mexico. Another F-16 fired an AIM-9X that sank a boat in April 2008, and in 2007 a missile fired from an F-15C destroyed a fast-moving armored personnel carrier, Raytheon officials said. Raytheon would not disclose the altitude from which the missiles were launched.