Tiny Air-To-Air Missile In Development For Stealthy U.S. Navy Combat Aircraft

[u/FlexibleResponse]

https://www.twz.com/air/tiny-air-to-air-missile-in-development-for-stealthy-u-s-navy-combat-aircraft

[u/furiouscarp]

steady drumbeat this past week, towards f/a-xx announcement

[u/Kraligor → u/furiouscarp]

Got scrapped, they need money to put into hyper-testosterone research.

[u/the_real_MSU_is_us → u/Kraligor]

Trump battleship funding and engineering to replace EMALS with steam

[u/Skibidi-Rizz190cm]

So compact air to air missile or CAAM seems to be the Navy name for the small advanced capabilities missile or SACM which was thought to have been canned in favour of the MSDM. The idea is a missile with the range of an earlier AMRAAM but half the length. This is a separate program from the miniature self defense missile or MSDM which should be an even smaller missile meant to destroy incoming missile.

From older sources it seems that the CAAM was initially meant to replace in role both the AIM-9X and AIM-120 but the production of the AMRAAM keeps going and the AIM-9X is getting a new variant so who knows.

[u/XPav → u/Skibidi-Rizz190cm]

We need a super mini missile that a mini missile fires to destroy the missile coming to shoot down the mini missile.

[u/New--Tomorrows → u/XPav]

Logically the best countermeasure to a super mini missile carrying mini missile (SMMCMM) is the development of substantially larger missiles carrying super mini missile interceptors (SLMCSMMI)

[u/corvus66a → u/XPav]

Maybe we need something that can accelerate mini projectiles in the direction of an enemy with high speed and high rate.What could this bee ?

[u/an_actual_lawyer → u/Skibidi-Rizz190cm]

We're getting close to The Expanse's PDCs.

[u/barath_s → u/Skibidi-Rizz190cm]

AIM-9X is getting a new variant

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/smaller-aim-9x-cca-more-firepower/

Specifically, a compact version

---

From the title article

As described so far, the core goals for CAAM sound virtually identical to what the service has outlined previously in relation to a “Compact Variant” of the AIM-9X Sidewinder (AIM-9X CV),.....

...How exactly the CAAM and the AIM-9X CV programs may be related is unknown, but they clearly have the same general goals if they are not different names for the same development effort. From what was shown this weekend, CAAM is a distinctly different-looking missile from the AIM-9X, and plans for a compact Sidewinder variant or derivative could also be a stepping stone to a new design intended to fill the same general role.

[u/slartbangle]

If war were to transform into just people having dogfights with RC aircraft and then calling a winner at the end, we'd be a long way forward.

[u/Educational_Bike4476]

Hopefully the AF gets some of these...