RTX Develops Longest-Range Air-To-Air Missile That Could Give US Advantage In South China Sea

RTX Corporation RTX has developed an air-to-air missile that could give the U.S. an upper hand against China.

The AIM-174B, which has the longest range of any U.S. missile and is a further development of the Raytheon SM-6 air defense missile, can reach targets as far away as 250 miles, Reuters reported.

The new missile exceeds the striking distance of the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, which is also made by RTX, by 157 miles and can therefore outrange China’s PL-15 missile and allow U.S. jets to stay closer to aircraft carriers that they are protecting.

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The AIM-174B, which the U.S. has been deployed to the Indo-Pacific region and was officially acknowledged in July, does not require new production lines and is compatible with the aircraft of U.S. ally Australia.

“The United States can ensure the safety of their important assets, such as carrier groups, and launch long-range strikes on PLA targets,” Chieh Chung, a researcher at Taipei-based thinktank Association of Strategic Foresight, told Reuters.

PLA stands for People’s Liberation Army.

Almost three weeks ago, RTX reported second-quarter results that beat analyst expectations.

The company posted $19.791 billion in revenue for the three-month period to exceed analyst consensus of $19.28 billion. Adjusted EPS grew 9% to $1.41, beating consensus of $1.30.

Price Action: RTX rose 0.59% to $117.55 by Wednesday’s late-afternoon trading

• IShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF ITA gained 0.33%
• Direxion Daily Aerospace & Defense Bull 3X Shares DFEN went up 0.69%
• First Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ETF MISL increased 0.47%
• Global X Defense Tech ETF SHLD rose 1.17%
• Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF PPA edged up 0.49%

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