The operational range of the AIM-174B missile is approximately 400 km.

New Delhi: After World War 2, the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union kept the world at bay for decades. Now, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, China has emerged as the USA's real, external and external enemy in what political, market and military analysts have termed the “US-China Cold War”.

The two largest economies and superpowers have locked horns on various issues, but the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region is perhaps the most volatile and fickle, with both flexing their muscles either way.

Taking it further, the USA has installed a new Air Interceptor Missile (AIM) 174B long-range air-to-air missile that could possibly tilt the power in favor of the US along the Indo-Pacific.

The AIM-174B missile, on the US Navy's F-18 Super Hornet, is said to have a range of approximately 400 km.

It represents a significant improvement in the US Navy's air-to-air combat capabilities, building on the body of the standard SM-6 missile and integrating technology from the AIM-120 AMRAAM seeker with the AIM-174B derivative of the Raytheon SM-6. A surface-to-air missile launched from a US naval platform.

The SM-6 is a multi-role missile used for anti-air warfare, anti-ballistic missiles and anti-surface warfare.

The AIM-174B was first seen during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC 2024) exercise. The US Navy officially unveiled the AIM-174B air-to-air missile, described as an “air-launched configuration” of the RIM-174 standard ERAM surface-to-air missile.

The AIM-174B is an air-to-air version of the SM-6 missile, which is readily available due to the existing production line of the SM-6 missile.

The missile has a speed of Mach 3.5, i.e. 3.5 times the speed of sound and is considered a direct equivalent of the Russian Rh-37 Vympel long-range hypersonic air-to-air missile with a range of 400 km and a Chinese missile. The PL-15 long-range missile has a range of 300-350 km.

China's PLA Navy has deployed PL-15, PL-17 advanced version of 400 km range. The last dedicated long-range air-to-air missile the US Navy had was the AIM-54 Phoenix for the F-14 Tomcat. The fighter jet and missile were decommissioned in 2004.

The introduction of the AIM-174B by the US Navy in the Indo-Pacific is part of a broader strategy to counter China's air dominance and increase US power projection as tensions rise in the region.

“The United States has waited more than three decades to develop an entirely new type of long-range air-to-air missile, and in fact its previous longest-range air-to-air missile, the Navy's AIM-54C Phoenix missile, in 2004, followed two years later by the F- 14 Tomcat fighter jets were built to carry them,” says Forbes.