The AIM-54 Phoenix is an American active radar-guided, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only operational launch platfor
AIM-54A on an F-14 at NAS Patuxent River, 1984
An AIM-54A launched from the NA-3A-testbed in 1966
AIM-54 Phoenix seconds after launch (1989)
An AIM-54 hitting a QF-4B target drone, 1983
The AIM-174B Gunslinger is a very long-range air-to-air missile developed by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and currently used by the United States Navy. The AIM-174B is a derivative of the RIM-174B
AIM-54 Phoenix
…version, the latest version of the AMRAAM just matches the Phoenix's maximum range. In July 2024, the USN announced the operational fielding of the AIM-174, the "Air-Launched Configuration" of the RIM-174 Standard ERAM, the first dedicated long-range AAM to be fielded by the U.S. military since the AIM-54's…
AIM-174 missile on an F/A-18F, 4 May 2025
A F/A-18F armed with four Gunslingers, three AMRAAMs, two AIM-9Xs, an IRST21 sensor mounted in an FPU-13/A drop tank, and an AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR pod
An F/A-18E Super Hornet equipped with CATM-174Bs (the training-simulator variant of the Gunslinger missile) prepares to take-off from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Alexis Walker escorts President Donald J. Trump during a tour of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) in 2025. Note the air-to-air missiles in the background mounted on a Super Hornet, from left to right; an AIM-174, AIM-120, and AIM-9