At a time when the US has made its ambition over the Indo-Pacific region clear amid escalating tension over the South China Sea, Pentagon has come out with a new long range air to air missile that may change the balance of power. AIM-174B missile is capable of not only hitting targets in far-lung areas, it can bring a paradigm shift in the US-China relationship and balance of power, not only in the Indo-Pacific, but across the world.

AIM-174B Long Range Air To Air Missile

Called AIM-174B missile, it is in fact an RIM-174 Standard Missile-6 (SM-6). It is a big weapon weighing 1.6 tons with two solid fuel rockets,  capable of propelling itself from inside a ship’s vertical launch system. It can hit targets 230 miles away or over 110,000 feet at up to 3.5 times the speed of sound.

First Appeared At RIMPAC Exercise

The US-made missile first appeared on the wings of F/A-18E Super Hornet on July 2, 2024, when it was photographed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii as a part of the RIMPAC exercise under US Pacific Command.

Well, I’ll be damned. A pair of inert air-launched Standard Missile 6s on a U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-192 at Inouye International for RIMPAC 2024.

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Its designation is XAIM-174B, so clearly the focus is on air-to-air rather than air-to-surface
(📸 @aeros808 on IG) pic.twitter.com/XmCtPKSJYK

— John Ridge 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@John_A_Ridge) July 3, 2024

AIM-54C Phoenix Missile Retires

The long-range missile was developed after painstaking efforts of almost three decades as Pentagon retired its previous longest-range air-to-air weapon, the Navy’s AIM-54C Phoenix missile, in 2004. It was followed by the F-14 Tomcat fighters designed to carry them.

It is equivalent to the Russian Rh-37 Vympel long-range hypersonic air-to-air missile with a range of 400 km. But the US missile is significant because it is at par with the Chinese PL-15 long-range missile with range of 300-350 kilometres.

To Counter China’s PL-15, PL-17 Missiles

After China emerged as the only world power that can challenge the US hegemony, the balance of power dynamics moved to the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region. China’s People Liberation Army or its navy has never publicly admitted it, but the defence experts believe Beijing has not only developed, it has deployed an advanced version of PL-15, the PL-17 missile, with a range of 400 km.  After the AIM-54 Phoenix and the F-14 Tomcat were retired, the US was without a missile that could challenge the Chinese Navy.  Now, it has a befitting reply to China.

China Deploys J-16 Fourth Generation Fighter

Secondly, after China reportedly deployed its J-16 fourth-generation fighter, it shifted the balance of power in the East Asia region. A Chinese stealth bomber can target any non-stealthy U.S. aircraft and shoot it down well outside the range leaving no scope to hit back.

Will AIM-174B Missile Deter China To Dominate Indo-Pacific?

Now, with AIM-174B missile, the US Navy can at least challenge any Chinese aggression and keep it under control. Now the US fighter jets can target Chinese military installations from long range.

As the tension across the Taiwan Strait deepens, the row in the South China Sea widens and the Indo-Pacific region has opened a new theatre of command, any spark could turn out into a major flash leading the two countries getting engaged in skirmishes at any time. AIM-174B missile can play a deterrent.