The Pentagon allocates $15 billion to develop new missiles

Washington - Ofoq News - The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) plans to allocate $15.02 billion to develop and purchase new AIM-260 air-to-air missiles over the next five years, according to US War Department budget documents seen by Sputnik.

Last September, Lockheed Martin and the US Department of Defense announced the conclusion of a framework agreement aimed at accelerating the production of these missiles.

The program is being implemented by the Air Force in cooperation with the US Navy, as this long-range missile is designed in particular to arm the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning 2 fighters.

According to the documents, more than $13.55 billion was allocated for procurement over five years, including about $7.92 billion for the Air Force and $5.63 billion for the US Navy.

In fiscal year 2027, about $1.17 billion has been requested to purchase missiles for the Air Force and Navy. Later, expenses will witness a noticeable increase. To reach $2.63 billion in 2028, $3.4 billion in 2029, $3.19 billion in 2030, and $3.17 billion in 2031. In addition, about $1.47 billion was allocated during the aforementioned period for development research for the Air Force.

On the other hand, the numbers of missiles to be purchased, the cost per piece, and future development stages remain secret, as documents indicate that the details of the program are presented annually to the US Congress in secret.

The AIM-260 has been developed since 2017 to confront the emergence of new long-range Chinese BL-15 missiles. The new American missile was designed to replace the AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles and is supposed to exceed them in the range of destroying air targets. The Pentagon had hoped to put it into service in 2022, but the implementation of the program witnessed a delay.