The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Raytheon a US$21.3m (A$21.8m) contract to develop a new multi-mode long range air-to-air missile.
The weapon, dubbed T3 for Triple Target Terminator, is due to be fielded in the 2020s and would be carried internally or externally by fighters, UAVs and bombers, and be capable of shooting down small targets such as cruise missiles, and high performance low observable fighters.
Whilst no range or performance goals have been published, the T3 will be improved over current generation missiles with developments in propulsion, speed, manoeuvrability, datalinks, and its warhead.
