AIM-9X Successfully Completes First Live Fire Air Launch.LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 1999--The AIM-9X Sidewinder sidewinder, common name for a rattlesnake, Crotalus cerastes, found in the deserts of the SW United States. This 2-ft (60-cm), pale yellow and pink snake is named for its curious method of locomotion. short range air-to-air missile successfully completed its first air launch March 18 at the Naval Air Warfare Center The Naval Air Warfare Center was a former U.S. Navy military installation located in Warminster, Pennsylvania and Ivyland, Pennsylvania. The U.S. Navy purchased the grounds to establish this facility from the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation following its bankruptcy in the , China Lake, Calif. The launch was the first in a series of separation and control test vehicle launches off an F/A-18C/D Hornet hornet: see wasp. aircraft. The AIM-9X is under development by Raytheon Company (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :RTNA RTNA Ring Tone No Answer ) (NYSE:RTNB RTNB Radio Television Nationale du Burundi (Africa) RTNB Return the Next Bit (computers) ). The launch marked a significant milestone for the AIM-9X program as it was the first launch of the missile's advanced airframe, incorporating jet vane Vane , John Robert 1927-2004. British pharmacologist. He shared a 1982 Nobel Prize for research on prostaglandins. vane the membranous or main part of the contour feather in birds as distinct from the shaft. control, from an aircraft. "The agile AIM-9X airframe coupled with other AIM-9X advanced features will give U.S. fighter pilots a significant tactical advantage in the dog fight arena," said Rear Admiral Jeffrey Cook, Program Executive Officer for Tactical Aircraft Programs. Subsequent separation and control test vehicle launches off the U.S. Navy F/A-18 and U.S. Air Force F-15 aircraft are scheduled throughout 1999. The AIM-9X separation and control test vehicle launch focuses on evaluating both the missile separation characteristics from the aircraft, and the missile controllability through pre-programmed maneuvers in the free-flight regime. "This test is a significant accomplishment on the road to providing the U.S. warfighter the world's best short range air-to-air missile," said Chuck Anderson, Raytheon Systems Company Vice President for the Air-to-Air Missiles product line in Tucson, Ariz. The AIM-9X is a joint U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force program currently in engineering and manufacturing development. The AIM-9X is the latest member of the AIM-9 Sidewinder short range missile family currently in use by more than 40 nations throughout the world. Raytheon Company, based in Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader that provides products and services in the areas of commercial and defense electronics, engineering and construction, and business and special mission aircraft. Raytheon has operations throughout the United States and serves customers in more than 80 countries around the world. |
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