The air-launched Standard-6 designation was officially released - AIM-174B
In the past two days, the F/A-18E Super Hornet of the VFA-113 Stinger Squadron on the USS Carl Vinson docked at Pearl Harbor was carefully remembered and found to be carrying two AIM-174B training missiles (the two blue NATO identification rings on the front and back indicate that the missile is an inert training missile, with neither an engine nor a warhead), which is the first time that this weapon has been publicly photographed in high-definition appearance.
During this year's RIMPAC exercise, the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets fired an air-launched version of the Standard-6 ship-to-air missile from the air, thereby revealing the weapon. The carrier-based Standard-6 has a range of 370 km, and the air-launched version is said to have at least the same range, which actually gives it the ability to strike important strategic air targets such as AWACS aircraft and tankers.
This weapon is conceived as a response to the Chinese PL-17 long-range air-to-air missile, well, finally the time has come to be "countertouched" by the US imperialists.
Interestingly, according to the latest news, the AIM-174B has the ability to strike high-value targets on the ground and surface, which seems to be inherited from the Standard-2 era, and the US military used this semi-active radar-guided ship-to-air missile to directly hit sea targets. However, the price of the Standard-6 missile is $4.3 million, which is not cheap at all.
