WASHINGTON ― The U.S. State Department has OK’d the potential sale of AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile variants for the United Kingdom and Denmark.
The U.K. sale comes with an estimated cost of $650 million and covers up to 200 AIM-120D weapons, along with the associated missile containers, support equipment and technical support.
Denmark’s sale is smaller, with a targeted purchase of 28 AIM-120 C-7 weapons, along with associated support and a single AMRAAM spare guidance section, at an estimated cost of $90 million.
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The weapons will likely support the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Both nations have agreed to purchase the Lockheed Martin-made jet, which has run successful tests with the AIM-120.
In both cases, the prime contractor is Raytheon, with its Tucson, Arizona, location being the hub of the work. Unlike the U.K., Denmark has requested industrial offsets, and “agreements are undetermined and will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and contractor,” per an announcement from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
As with all DSCA announcements, the sale must pass through the Senate, at which point negotiations can begin; total quantities and dollar totals often change from the original DSCA announcement and final sale.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
