U.S. Navy aerial warfare experts are asking Raytheon Technologies Corp. to build 58 AIM-9X precision short-range infrared-guided air-to-air missiles for jet fighters and other combat aircraft under terms of a $34.7 million order announced Monday. The AIM-9X is an infrared-guided heat-seeking missile that equips most jet fighters, fighter-bombers, and other offensive combat aircraft in the U.S. arsenal, and is for shooting down enemy aircraft close-by.
The AIM-9X works by homing in on an enemy aircraft's hot engine exhaust. Variants of the AIM-9 Sidewinder have been deployed since the 1950s.
Related: Navy asks Raytheon to build heat-seeking air-to-air missiles with lock-on after launch capability
The order includes 61 block II captive air training missiles; 35 all-up round containers; and one lot of spares for the governments of Finland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Turkey, and Poland...MORE
