How The Navy’s New Very Long-Range AIM-174 Missile Could Pierce China’s Anti-Access Bubble

The Navy has officially acknowledged the existence of a weapon we had posited it was developing for years, an air-launched version of the hugely versatile, far reaching, and hard hitting ship-launched SM-6. Designated the AIM-174, this massive, F/A-18 Super Hornet-carried air-to-air weapon is by default longer-ranged than any other the U.S. has ever fielded. While it isn’t clear if the AIM-174 will also retain the SM-6’s secondary anti-ship and land attack capabilities, just what it could provide in the anti-air and possibly anti-ballistic missile roles could be truly revolutionary.