Following approval by the US Department of State in June 2019 (ESUT reported) and the approval by the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag on December 11, 2019 as part of a 25 million bill, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency NSPA signed a procurement contract for 91 modernized AGM-88E guided missiles to combat enemy radar systems (Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile, AARGM) completed.
With this contract, Germany will receive an improvement in its ability to combat enemy air defense (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, SEAD).
In addition to the procurement of the missile, the contract also includes support in the areas of technology, engineering and logistics services such as upgrades, technical documentation and training for operators and maintenance staff.
The AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) is an upgrade from the older generation AGM-88B High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) first acquired by Germany in 1987.
The AGM-88E features an advanced digital homing sensor, a millimeter wave (MMW) radar terminal seeker, and precise GPS/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) guidance.
Diehl Defense has concluded an exclusive cooperation agreement with the US company Orbital ATK (today a business unit of Northrop Grumman) for the marketing and production of the modern anti-radar guided missile AARGM (Advanced Anti-Radar Guided Missile) in Germany. After that, Diehl will take over significant parts of the work in Germany with regard to production and services in use. The conversion will take at least five years.
Procurement of the AGM-88E will be handled under new Foreign Military Sales (FMS) guidelines. Thereafter, the NSPA may enter into contracts with the US government on behalf of and on behalf of end users.
Gerhard Heiming
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