Pakistan's Chinese missile success pushes US to seek $1bn AIM-260

• Air Force, Navy jointly seek $1bn for AIM-260 production.
• Lockheed Martin eyes $30bn boost from missile program.
• AIM-260 designed for F-22, F-35, F-16, and F-15.

ISLAMABAD: Months after Pakistan downed Indian fighter jets with Chinese-made ultra-long-range missiles, new funding requests reveal that the United States may soon be ready to deploy its own next-generation weapon: the Lockheed Martin AIM-260, The News reported.

According to budget documents and a service statement cited by Bloomberg, the US Air Force and Navy have sought nearly $1 billion for the 2026 fiscal year, beginning October 1, to begin production of the classified missile system.

The Air Force, which is spearheading development of the AIM-260 — formally known as the Joint Advanced Tactical Missile — has requested $368 million for its initial production run, along with an additional $300 million listed in its annual “Unfunded Priorities List” submitted to congressional defence committees. The Navy, for its part, has asked for $301 million.

Analysts at Melius Research said last year the missile could become a $30 billion program depending on how many missiles are produced — a much-needed boon for Lockheed Martin on the heels of a second-quarter earnings report that flagged $1.6 billion in charges and a potential $4.6 billion tax accounting liability.

“Profitable growth at MFC is extremely important for Lockheed Martin,” Melius analyst Scott Mikus said of the company’s missiles and fire control division.

“The key will be can they limit or avoid future charges on the classified missile program, which is believed to be the AIM-260,” he added.

When it is eventually fielded — the Air Force won’t say when — the weapon will become the most advanced US air-to-air missile, a role long held by increasingly sophisticated versions of the RTX Inc, AIM-120 AMRAAM, which was introduced in 1993. The Air Force declined to say what developments gave the service confidence to move into production now.

Air-launched weapons that can shoot down planes at extreme ranges came into the spotlight in May, when Pakistani jets used Chinese-made PL-15 missiles to down Indian aircraft more than 100 miles away without risking return fire, experts say.

In last year’s annual report on Chinese military power, the Pentagon said the Chinese air force had likely declared the PL-17 air-to-air missile operational in 2023, saying the PL-15 follow-on “is believed to be able to strike targets from 400 kilometres (248 miles).” 

The new US missile “will have increased range over existing air-to-air weapons and will be effective in a variety of threat scenarios,” the Air Force said. A Ukrainian Air Force spokesman said in 2023 that the AIM-120 model supplied to his country has a range of about 100 miles.

The AIM-260 is designed to fit the internal weapons bays of the F-22 and F-35 fighters, but the Air Force said it would also be integrated with F-16 and F-15 jets.