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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The AIM-9X Sidewinder Air-to-Air missile program will develop a short-range heat seeking weapon to be employed in both offensive and defensive counter-air operations. Offensively, the weapon will assure that U.S. and combined air forces have the ability to project the necessary power to ensure dominant maneuver. In the defensive counter-air role, the missile system will provide a key capability for force protection.

The multi-Service AIM-9X Sidewinder development will field a high off-boresight capable short-range heat seeking missile to be employed on U.S. Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps fighters. The missile will be used for both offensive and defensive counter-air operations as a short-range, launch and leave air combat missile that uses infrared guidance. The AIM-9X will complement longer-range radar guided missiles such as the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM).

The new missile is required to reestablish the parity of U.S. aircraft in short-range air combat; vis-à-vis improved foreign export aircraft and missiles. Specific deficiencies exist in the current AIM-9M including high off-boresight angle capability, infrared counter-countermeasures robustness, kinematic performance, and missile maneuverability. The MiG-29 with its AA-10/AA-11 missiles is the major threat to U.S. forces. Additionally, there are a number of other missiles on the world market that outperform the current U.S. inventory AIM-9M weapon system in the critical operational employment areas.

The AIM-9X will expand the capabilities of the current AIM-9M by developing a new seeker imaging infrared focal plane array, a high performance airframe, and a new signal processor for the seeker/sensor. The current acquisition strategy seeks to retain the warhead, fuze, and rocket motor of the current design to capitalize on the large existing inventory of AIM-9 weapons. The F-15C/D and the F/A-18C/D will be the initial platforms for integration and T&E.

Following the EMD contract award to Hughes Missile Systems (now Raytheon), DOT&E, the Program Office, the Service OTAs, and the prime contractor aggressively worked to formulate an EMD strategy that integrates early OT involvement into a combined DT/OT phase, a strategy for modeling and simulation accreditation that makes efficient use of both developmental and operational test data, integrated testing events and systems integration efforts with the Helmet-mounted Cueing System to save time and resources, and explored the potential to execute OT&E using the first operational units programmed to receive the weapon system in order to accelerate the fielding of the weapon. Additionally, a preliminary LFT&E Strategy has been developed to integrate existing warhead data into an adequate test program that characterizes the contribution of changes in end game geometry.

The developmental test activity included captive carry flight activity (referred to as the flying test bed) to mature the seeker and guidance design. The program office has been aggressive in including OTAs and DOT&E in the monitoring and observation of developmental activity. However, this year's major OT&E effort has been the detailed review and formulation of an integrated modeling and simulation strategy that supports developmental, operational, and live-fire test and evaluations. The program office has actively supported this integrated simulation strategy. The PM initiated an independent study during this year to review the current state of existing simulation options by Draper Labs, with wide participation coming from DOT&E and the Institute for Defense Analysis. This effort resulted in an executive modeling and simulation review team (Program Office, DOT&E, Raytheon) which recommended an integrated modeling and simulation plan that incrementally builds toward a comprehensive OT&E accreditation.

The AIM-9X Program has been very successful in incorporating developmental and OT&E activity into an integrated effort. The captive carry flying test-bed sorties are progressing satisfactorily. The modeling and simulation study by Draper Labs indicated that the current suite of modeling tools and facilities should be adequate to support the combined T&E effort. The 6-degree of freedom missile model, the Raytheon Integrated Flight Simulation, Signal Processor-in-the-Loop, and the Hardware-in-the-Loop tools are an adequate foundation to support missile testing and evaluate missile performance/effectiveness. DOT&E representatives participated in the Draper Study. This study further evolved into a combined contractor, Program Office, and DOT&E task force charged with further exploring the implementation of the Draper results as well as the facility requirements to execute the integrated modeling and simulation plan. The task force results have been adopted by the Navy Program Office to support an integrated T&E effort with developmental, combined DT/OT, and OT&E test data. The program continues to pursue this integrated strategy with AFOTEC and OPTEVFOR.

The evaluation of the full capability of the AIM-9X is interdependent with the progress of the Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS). The JHMCS developmental progress and aircraft integration schedules are being closely monitored by DOT&E. JHMCS IOT&E is scheduled to support the missile combined DT/OT phase and should be completed prior to the missile OPEVAL. The OPEVAL/IOT&E strategy requires both helmet and missile for the full evaluation of the system.

The work toward adoption of the proposed AIM-9X integrated strategy is progressing satisfactorily. The program office effort to craft the integrated plan has included DOT&E, contractor, and government developmental community participation at every stage. The initial simulations of missile performance are in progress and DOT&E, AFOTEC, OPTEVFOR, Raytheon, and government developmental teams are analyzing the initial outputs to assess both the progress of the weapon development and the process of sharing the simulation data.

The AIM-9X Program Office support of early OT involvement, combined DT/OT wherever possible, and integrated modeling and simulation have enabled all participants in the program to share test data and evaluations while still focusing on their respective areas of interest.