The Royal Australian Air Force will be strengthened with the newest AIM-260A JATM air-to-air missiles, so this country may become the first export buyer of this armament produced by American defense giant Lockheed Martin, and this sale will become another step in cooperation between Australian and American defense-industrial complexes.
An official announcement from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has not yet been published, Naval News reports the information citing its own sources.
Read more: US Air Force Keeps Flying 1960s C-5s Until 2045, Some C-17s Until They're 84 Years Old
As of October 2025, the AIM-260A JATM missile is not in service with the American military and has not been operationally deployed, so the deal indeed looks quite unusual. However, it's stated that an official announcement from DSCA should appear within a week and the US has generally approved the sale of these missiles to Australia without problems.
The likely amount of the deal together with equipment will be $3.1 billion, which includes 450 AIM-260A missiles, as well as samples for testing (without additional equipment, the deal amount is stated at $2.6 billion). As the publication calculated, a very high price for one missile is about $5.8 million per unit, which is, of course, quite expensive.
By the way, there's quite a clear understanding regarding the timing of the first batch delivery and this is the third quarter of 2033, meaning in eight years. But recall that were talking about a missile that has not yet been adopted for service in the US and which will primarily be produced in the interests of the American military.
If we talk about creating the AIM-260A JATM missile, this is quite a secretive project, and as of today, besides some renders and artistic images, photos with this missile have not been published.
At the same time, regarding air-to-air missile range, the US is already lagging behind China here, which already has air-to-air missiles at 300-500 km, while the maximum range of AIM-260A JATM will be about 200 km.
Read more: Iran's Mysterious Air Defense Systems Fail to Intercept F-35s — What Is Known About These Systems?
