The Navy publicly disclosed the AIM-424 “Malice,” an all-new very long-range air-to-air missile, at the Tailhook Association’s convention in Reno, Nevada. The reveal puts the Navy’s next long-range weapon in view while it is already deep in testing.
Super Hornet and F-35C images
A Navy image from last April shows a Super Hornet from Navy Air Test And Evaluation Squadron 23 loaded with four of the missiles. Another image shows the missile installed in an F-35C’s weapons bay, giving the clearest public look yet at how the weapon fits into naval strike aircraft.
The missile is meant to arm F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, F-35C Joint Strike Fighters, and the upcoming F/A-XX next-generation naval fighter. That makes it a carrier-air-wing weapon, not a single-aircraft program, and it is being tied to the platforms that would carry it into service.
Raytheon and range
Raytheon builds the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile, and the Navy specifications page lists it at 1,500 pounds with a range in excess of 250NM. Those figures place it above the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile in size and reach.
Aviation Week reported that the missile is a two-stage design, matching the Pentagon’s long-running interest in multi-stage air-to-air missiles. The Pentagon has also floated the goal of developing extreme-range air-to-air weapons that can reach the 1,000-mile mark in the years to come.
What Malice leaves open
The public disclosure answers the basic question of what the AIM-424 is and which aircraft are meant to carry it. It does not answer the full manufacturer configuration or the mission set the missile will ultimately have, which leaves the weapon’s final role to later reporting and testing data.
For now, the practical takeaway is narrower and sharper: the Navy has shown a much larger air-to-air missile in flight-test use, and it is already being sized for the Super Hornet, the F-35C, and F/A-XX.
