ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile) is a short-range IR-homing air-to-air missile being manufactured by British Aerospace to arm the RAF Eurofighter Typhoon. The program was fraught with delays and an effort to jointly produce it with Germany and the US collapsed in 1989. In March 1992, the British MoD, after reopening the competition for a new short-range missile, selected BAe to develop ASRAAM. BAe conducted flight trials of the missile at US Air Force facilities at Eglin AFB, FL with the first guided firing taking place on 29 May 1996. The program cost has been put at ￡823 million ($1.18 billion) by the National Audit Office. Initial deliveries to the RAF were slated for the end of 1997 and initial deployment in December 1998 but continually slipped until it was cleared for operational service in January 2002. The total RAF requirement is believed to be about 1,300 missiles. At the 1994 Farnborough Air Show, British Aerospace announced two new versions of the ASRAAM, an anti-armor derivative intended to satisfy the SR(A) 1238 requirement, and a naval short-range air defense version for future British frigates. Neither has proceeded into development.
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