AGM-88 HARM

AGM-88 Harm attached to aircraft

Main Points:

  • Broadband and later reprogrammable seeker eliminated need for multiple seeker heads.
  • Higher speed gave enemy radar operators less time to shut down radar
  • Later versions enabled missile to fix target position and continue to guide to target even if radar shut down
  • Low-smoke motor, improved warheads, wider seeker field-of-view, and longer range improved effectiveness over Shrike.

To address operational drawbacks of the Shrike and Standard Arm antiradiation missiles, China Lake, in partnership with Texas Instruments began work in 1969 on an improved antiradiation missile called AGM-88 HARM. It was a higher speed missile capable of attacking a variety of different radars without the need to change seekers. HARM achieved initial operational capability in 1985. Over the years it underwent several improvements and later versions are still in production, with more improvements planned. These variants improved capabilities in lethality, ability to home on targets even if the radar shut down, ability to reprogram the seeker in the field to account for a change in target radar characteristics, and improved accuracy. HARM continues to be the U.S.’s first-line antiradiation missile. Significant improvements are in test today under a program called the Advanced Antiradiation Guided Missile (AARGM).

            HARMs were first employed in combat by U.S. forces during a series of squabbles with Libya in 1986. Allied forces in Kosovo used over 1,000 missiles in 1999. Over 2,000 were used in the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq.