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AGM-88 HARM

AGM-88 HARM (High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile) is a tactical, air-to-surface anti-radiation missile. The missile targets the high-frequency radars. HARM calculates the location of the target and is able to hit it even if the radar has been turned off. The latest modifications are designed to target the radars equipped with changing operating frequencies. It can hit Russian radar equipment with the S-300 or S-400 air defence systems, anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems such as Tor, Pantsir-S1 and Buk, as well as enemy radars on different areas of the front.

The baseline AGM-88 HARM is fast, reaching Mach 2, and has a range of roughly 150 kilometers, or 93 miles. The AARGM-ER purportedly doubles both its range and speed by adding a solid integrated rocket-ramjet, giving it a 300-kilometer (186-mile) range and near-hypersonic speed. The Navy has conducted four tests of the AARGM-ER since 2021.

The missile has the ability to be fired using existing data about radar emissions, using an aircraft’s targeting system, or by firing it and letting it detect the target itself. The missile is used to strike enemy radar sites as part of a dangerous mission the Pentagon calls “wild weasel,” after the nimble rodent that goes into the den of its prey as it hunts. However, Soviet military doctrine and those of many former Soviet republics - such as Russia and Ukraine - don’t assign a special mission profile for anti-radar strikes. Other nations call this mission Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD).

Having carried out four successful tests of the extended-range AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM), dubbed the AARGM-ER, by February 2023 the US Navy was preparing to test launching the missile from a ground-based site. US Navy Capt. Alex Dutko, program manager for Naval Air Systems Command's (NAVAIR) Direct and Time Sensitive Strike office, told reporters there would be “a demonstration here in the next several months."

According to media reports, the Navy did not clarify its method of surface launch, but it could potentially use existing truck-mounted missile launchers, a version of the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System used on US Navy warships, or even a launcher hidden inside a shipping container. Interestingly, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) developed a system for firing the AGM-78 ARM, the HARM’s predecessor, from a truck-mounted launcher in the 1980s, following air defense trouble during the 1973 war.

US Air Force F-16 Falcons are often tasked with “wild weasel” missions today, but the AARGM-ER can be carried inside the internal weapons bay of both the F-22 Raptor and the A and C variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The HARM was not designed to be fired from Soviet-built fighter jets, but Ukraine has succeeded at getting MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft to do so, after the US began secretly supplying Kiev with the missiles.

On 08 August 2022, the US Defense Department confirmed that it had provided anti-radiation missiles to the Ukrainian Air Force. The Ukrainian servicemen also showcased a video featuring the combat use of missiles. At the beginning of August 2022, US-made AGM-88 missiles started striking Russian air defense positions in Ukraine. But at that time, it was uncertain which platform the Ukrainian servicemen used to fire American missiles. The United States adapted HARM high-speed anti-radiation missiles for MiG-29 fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force, according to the U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Colin Kahl.

On August 24, Colin Kahl answered this question: “We had provided Ukrainians with some of these anti-radiation missiles, the HARM missiles, and we had adapted those missiles to be able to fire off MIG-29. So, they of course, were not designed to fly off Russian equipment – they were designed to fly off our aircraft and the Ukrainians in recent weeks have been using the HARM missiles to great effect to take out Russian radar systems.”

The Ukrainian Air Force also adapted the American AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface anti-radiation missiles for use with Su-27 fighters. A corresponding photo appeared on social networks in September, 2022. Previously, it was known that these missiles were used only with Soviet-made Ukrainian MiG-29 jets.

Press service of the command of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 22 September 2022 : "Fighter jets continue to destroy Russian air defence systems using American AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles adapted to Ukrainian aircraft and cover the strike groups of attack and bomber aircraft from the air. More than 15 coordinated airstrikes were carried out on the Ruscists on different fronts."

As a result of airstrikes at the base of a Russian platoon – a mortar battery – up to 15 units of armored combat vehicles were destroyed, and dozens of occupiers were killed. About 10 Russian air defence positions were destroyed using HARM anti-radiation missiles. In addition, through the course of 21 September 2022, anti-aircraft missile units of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed four tactical UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and one Iskander-K cruise missile of the Russian occupying forces.

Yuriy Ihnat, Spokesperson of the Air Force Command of Ukrainian Armed Forces stated at Media Center Ukraine-Ukrinform October 21, 2022 : "The tactics and strategy are the same – to support our troops so that they move forward with as little losses as possible. A few months ago, we changed our tactics after receiving American AGM-88 HARM missiles, powerful anti-radar missiles. Now our aviation is significantly “thinning out” the enemy’s anti-aircraft defense, in fact destroying it. This allows tactical aviation to deliver powerful air strikes. This is done every day, 10-15 strikes on the enemy”.