Australia invests in new AIM-120 missile procurement

US Marine Corps and RAAF personnel inspect AIM-120D AMRAAMs prior to loading onto a RAAF F-35A Lightning II at RAAF Base Darwin following exercises in Australia in 2023. (Sgt Joshua Brittenham/Commonwealth of Australia)

The Australian government has announced that it is procuring additional numbers of advanced medium-range missiles to strengthen the country's air defence and aerial strike capabilities.

Canberra is investing up to AUD2.12 billion (USD1.3 billion) to procure additional stocks of AIM-120D-3 and AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) from the United States under Washington's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said on 3 July. The announcement comes nearly three months after the US State Department's approval of a proposal, in April 2025, to sell Australia up to 200 AIM-120C-8 and 200 AIM-120D-3 missiles. The FMS-related sale had an estimated value of USD1.04 billion at the time.

According to the DoD, the AIM-120D-3 missiles will be employed by the Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF's) Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler aircraft as well as the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II aircraft. However, the AIM-120C-8 missiles will be used with the Australian Army's Kongsberg-Raytheon National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), the DoD added.

Janes has previously reported that the AIM-120D-3 is the latest variant of the AMRAAM and has an estimated range of 160 km. The missile incorporates the System Improvement Program (SIP) Tape 3F software, which is a form, fit, and function (F3) hardware refresh (F3R) that reduces hardware obsolescence issues in the AIM-120D's guidance section. The AIM-120C-8 resembles the AIM-120D but is an ‘export-only' missile and is also an F3R hardware variant but with different software.