{ "archive_path": "archive/1790892338.198596", "base_url": "www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet", "basename": "aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet", "bookmarked_date": "2026-10-01 22:05", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet.html" }, "domain": "www.twz.com", "extension": "", "hash": "11C0PXYQXYY42905MJTZ", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:34:37.098308+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:34:36.151200+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:34:37.505883+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:34:37.109447+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:53.817550+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:49.904719+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpnoz8pac4", "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:49.890796+00:00", "index_texts": [ "A Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet has been photographed carrying an inert AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) during a major U.S. Navy test event in California. The development comes weeks after Australia announced that it would buy the new missile, with its Super Hornets being the first RAAF aircraft to receive it.\n\n\n\nThe photograph was released by the U.S. Navy and shows an RAAF F/A-18F assigned to No. 1 Squadron taking off from Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu on September 11 during Gray Flag 2026. The loadout also includes a CATM-9X \u2014 the inert training variant of the AIM-9X \u2014 and a CATM-120, the inert training version of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, three external fuel tanks, an AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR targeting pod, and a Tactical Combat Training System (TCTS) pod.\n\n\n\nAn AIM-260 JATM is seen on station 7, the \u201ccheek\u201d station, of a Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet during Gray Flag 2026. U.S. Navy photo by Dana Rene White \n\n\n\nGray Flag is the naval aviation test community\u2019s flagship large-force test event, providing opportunities for large-scale integration of new capabilities across services, platforms, industry, and allied forces. Gray Flag 2026 was the largest edition of the exercise to date. According to the Navy, more than 3,000 personnel from over 150 organizations participated, flying more than 750 sorties and logging over 2,000 flight hours across hundreds of multi-domain test objectives. \n\n\n\nPrevious iterations of Gray Flag have been used to test new and still-developmental weapons in increasingly complex, operationally representative scenarios, including actual missile engagements against realistic targets. Making use of the sprawling Point Mugu Sea Range, the event has also become an important opportunity for working out how sensors, weapons, aircraft, and networks interact as part of larger kill chains and kill webs. A new, longer-range air-to-air missile is especially relevant when it comes to developing tactics, techniques, and procedures within a broader, networked air-combat architecture.\n\n\n\nBeyond being the first apparent glimpse of an Australian JATM in any context, integration of the weapon onto Australia\u2019s Super Hornet fleet has already progressed to the point of carrying the missile \u2014 in inert form \u2014 during a major U.S.-based test and integration exercise.\n\n\n\nA close-up look at an AIM-260 test round on the same station of a U.S. Navy Super Hornet.\u00a0Jonathan Tweedy/@flightline_visuals \n\n\n\nAs TWZ reported in August, Australia is set to become the first country outside the United States to operate the AIM-260 following a roughly $480-million procurement through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. The Australian government said at the time that the missile would first be integrated onto the RAAF\u2019s F/A-18F fleet, before being fielded on the F-35A and EA-18G Growler. Looking further ahead, the RAAF\u2019s MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) could also emerge as a candidate for integration with JATM.\n\n\n\nAustralia\u2019s announcement did not provide a delivery schedule or specify when JATM would enter Australian service. \n\n\n\nThe overall proportions and external configuration of the AIM-260 were revealed when an example appeared on a U.S. Navy F/A-18F in May of this year. That aircraft, operated by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31), provided the first publicly known photographic view of the highly classified missile.\n\n\n\nAn F/A-18F from VX-31 carrying the AIM-260. Jonathan Tweedy/ @flightline_visuals \n\n\n\nThe AIM-260\u2019s exact specifications remain classified. It is intended to provide substantially greater range than the AIM-120 AMRAAM while retaining a broadly similar form factor. That compact configuration is important because the missile is designed not only for external carriage but also for internal carriage by aircraft such as the F-22 and F-35.\n\n\n\nThe weapon has been developed as a response to the increasingly long-range air-to-air threat posed by China\u2019s PL-15 and other advanced missiles. Official range figures have not been released, although previous reporting has pointed to an intended range of at least 120 miles and potentially considerably more.\n\n\n\nClose-up of a J-20 fighter carrying four inert examples of the PL-15 in its main ventral bays.\u00a0via\u00a0Chinese internet \n\n\n\nThe Australian procurement therefore represents an important expansion of the JATM program beyond the U.S. fleet. \n\n\n\nThe timing of the Point Mugu photograph is particularly interesting. Gray Flag is specifically intended to bring together large numbers of aircraft, weapons, sensors, networks, and other systems for demanding integration and test activities. An Australian Super Hornet carrying JATM at such an event would be entirely in line with the purpose of the exercise.\n\n\n\nGround crew members stand by an EA-18G Growler on the flight line at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, during Gray Flag, on September 30, 2026. U.S. Navy photo by Katie Archibald \n\n\n\nIt is not clear, however, what role the missile was playing. The photograph does not establish whether it was an Australian-owned operational weapon, a U.S. test asset, or a missile being used for a particular integration activity. Blue bands on the missile body confirm that it\u2019s a training missile with an inert rocket motor and/or warhead.\n\n\n\nPublic evidence of an Australian aircraft carrying the AIM-260 is another important milestone in the weapon\u2019s transition from a closely guarded U.S. development program toward allied service.\n\n\n\nIt also underscores the most interoperability aspect of the Australian acquisition. Canberra is buying into a U.S. long-range air-to-air weapon program at a time when the Royal Australian Air Force and U.S. forces are increasingly expected to operate together across the Indo-Pacific.\n\n\n\nA Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail, two EA-18G Growlers, and two F-35As fly in formation with two U.S. Air Force B-2 bombers and two F-22 Raptors. Australian Department of Defense \n\n\n\nThe exercise also comes as the U.S. moves to accelerate development and future production of the AIM-260. In September, the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin reached a framework agreement laying the groundwork for a future multiyear procurement deal, while the Air Force Test Center confirmed that the missile is already undergoing both ground and airborne testing. The agreement is intended to give Lockheed Martin and its suppliers the demand signal needed to expand production capacity, although the number of missiles, costs and delivery schedule remain undisclosed. \n\n\n\nThe development should also be seen in the context of broader U.S.-Australian cooperation on air-launched weapons. RAAF F/A-18Fs are also being integrated into the U.S.-Australian Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) effort under the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment (SCIFiRE), with Australia providing test infrastructure for the weapon\u2019s flight-test program. You can read more about this program here.\n\n\n\nThe video below shows a hypersonic test conducted at Woomera in 2016 under the U.S.-Australian Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HiFIRE) program.\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\tDST | One step closer to hypersonic flight | HIFiRE\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\nAustralia said its F/A-18Fs would be the first RAAF aircraft to receive JATM, and an Australian Super Hornet has now been photographed carrying one during a major U.S. Navy test event. For the RAAF, getting JATM onto its frontline fighters is consequently an increasingly urgent requirement, giving its Super Hornets a credible long-range counter to the weapons they could face in a future high-end fight.\n\n\n\nContact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:47.848453+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:47.841197+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "AIM-260 JATM Missile Spotted On Australian Super Hornet", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:47.796416+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--reject=js,mjs,woff,woff2,ttf,otf,eot,mp4,m4v,mov,webm,ogv,mkv,avi,flv", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "--timestamping", "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-10-02T01:35:47.787183+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-10-02T01:34:37.514938+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "AIM-260 JATM Missile Spotted On Australian Super Hornet", "warc": null, "wget": "www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1790892338.198596", "newest_archive_date": "2026-10-02T01:35:49.904719+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-10-02T01:34:36.151200+00:00", "path": "/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "7c765d9b-e656-4d49-a22b-768f9e38aabf", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1790892338-import.txt" ], "tags": ",war-wiki,escalation,pool", "tags_str": "war-wiki,escalation,pool", "timestamp": "1790892338.198596", "title": "AIM-260 JATM Missile Spotted On Australian Super Hornet", "updated": "2026-10-02T01:34:36.151022+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-10-02 01:34", "url": "https://www.twz.com/air/aim-260-jatm-missile-spotted-on-australian-super-hornet" }