Development
AMRAAM was developed as the result of an agreement (the Family of Weapons MOA, no longer in effect by 1990), among the United States and several other NATO nations to develop air-to-air missiles and to share production technology. Under this agreement the U.S. was to develop the next generation medium range missile (AMRAAM) and Europe would develop the next generation short range missile (ASRAAM). When the German ASRAAM seeker development ran into problems, the MOA was abrogated and this breakdown led to the U.S. developing AIM-9X Sidewinder and Germany the IRIS-T. Although Europe initially adopted the AMRAAM, an effort to develop the MBDA Meteor, a competitor to AMRAAM, was begun in Great Britain. Eventually the ASRAAM was developed solely by the British, but using another source for its infrared seeker. After protracted development, the deployment of AMRAAM (AIM-120A) began in September 1991 in U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle fighter squadrons. The U.S. Navy soon followed (in 1993) in its the F/A-18 Hornet squadrons.
The eastern counterpart of AMRAAM is the somewhat similar Russian Air Force AA-12 "Adder", sometimes called in the West as the "AMRAAMski." Likewise, France began its own air-to-air missile development with the MICA concept that used a common airframe for separate radar-guided and infrared-guided versions.
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