Germany buys almost 1000 AIM-120 missiles at once
Germany’s choice in favor of the AIM-120 could be very painful for the European MBDA, which offers its own Meteor, which even has a longer range of targets
The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has authorized the sale of more than 969 AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles to Germany, including all related services and equipment.
The total value of this truly large-scale contract is $2.9 billion, and it does not include any compensatory additional agreements. Thus, the cost of one AIM-120C-8 for the German Air Force is $2.99 million per unit.
This price per unit is higher than the authorization for Sweden, which just a few weeks ago received permission to purchase 250 AIM-120C-8 missiles for $605 million, or $2.42 million per unit. And it is already more than twice the price of this missile for the US military, which is $1.37 million in fiscal year 2024.
This order, which is yet to be formalized in a separate contract, can indeed be considered astronomical. Because in the next US fiscal year, the Pentagon ordered 608 AIM-120 missiles, which is twice as many as in fiscal year 2022, which ends on September 30. Therefore, it is clear that the order entrusted to Raytheon will take many years to complete.
However, such a huge order for air-to-air missiles from Berlin may objectively raise certain questions from the European concern MBDA. The fact is that this conglomerate has developed and produces the Meteor air-to-air missile, which has an even longer range than the AIM-120C-8 – 200 km versus 160-180 km.
At the same time, the reasons why Germany chose the American missile are extremely interesting. The fact is that the export price of the AIM-120 is significantly higher than the known price tag for the Meteor, which in 2019 was €2 million per unit. And this figure refers to the contract for Brazil, which means that the cost of Meteor may be lower for domestic consumers.
And obviously, until the contract between Germany and the United States is signed, MBDA still has a window of opportunity to influence the final decision, because a contract worth several billion is literally flying by in the United States.
At the same time, the choice of AIM-120 for Germany is difficult to explain. Even taking into account the purchase of 35 fifth-generation F-35 fighters, almost 1,000 AMRAAM missiles far exceeds any need for them.
Therefore, the only logical option for the German air force to use them is the active use of these missiles on the Eurofighter, into which these missiles are also integrated. Another scenario is their use in NASAMS SAMs, but Germany is building its ground-based air defense component on IRIS-T and Patriot.
But it is quite possible that Germany is considering the scenario of expanding its aircraft fleet, because 969 AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles is quite an impressive number even for all 138 German Eurofighters, which must have an appropriate set of air-to-air missiles.
