Lawmakers Say Shutdown Has Delayed Secretive New JATM Missile

Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back an entire quarter due to the ongoing government shutdown.

The revelation came in a fact sheet distributed by HASC Republicans on Oct. 24 highlighting the biggest impacts of the government shutdown on national security.

“There has been a three-month delay in deploying the Air Force Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM) program, which is central to our air combat capabilities,” the fact sheet states. “The JATM is necessary to catch up with China, which has significantly outpaced the U.S. in the ability to target important assets with ultra-long-range air missiles.”

In addition to the claimed delay to JATM, the fact sheet noted that while the shutdown persists, important training and exercises aren’t being conducted and essential maintenance is being deferred on various platforms.

On top of that, “the military cannot enter into new contracts or renew existing contracts during the shutdown, needlessly delaying the acquisition of critical capabilities for our warfighters,” the fact sheet states.

It is unclear whether the JATM delay is related to the ability to award new contracts, and the fact sheet did not explain exactly how the four-week shutdown has caused a three-month delay. A committee spokesperson did not immediately respond to emails and calls requesting clarification.

An Air Force spokesperson, meanwhile, said information about the JATM is “protected by enhanced security measures” and that she could not provide any information about the reported delay, or comment on whether the report is even accurate.

Still, the HASC’s claim is notable given the lack of public information about JATM, which has been shrouded in secrecy for years.

The Lockheed Martin-built missile is the planned successor to the AIM-120 AMRAAM, the Air Force and Navy’s primary radar-guided air-to-air missile. The JATM, which is highly classified, reportedly will have more than double the AMRAAM’s range but can fit on existing missile rails and within fifth-generation fighter internal weapons bays.

The weapon has been in development since 2018, and initial public disclosures suggested it would be operational in 2022-2023, but senior USAF officials acknowledged prior to the shutdown that it has been delayed. Testing is known to have been conducted out of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in 2023 that he expected at-scale production of the JATM “hopefully” that year.       

JATM is intended to recapture parity with Chinese PL-15 and PL-17 radar-guided missiles, which reportedly have a range far in excess of that of the AMRAAM, thus giving stealthy Chinese fighters an edge in long-range engagements.

RTX’s Raytheon reported recently, however, that it had achieved record-breaking ranges with the AMRAAM in test shots. And the Air Force—on behalf of itself, the Navy, and many Foreign Military Sales customers—placed a record $3.5 billion order for AMRAAMs in July, without disclosing the number of missiles covered by the contract. Those missiles are to be delivered through 2031.   

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, during his Oct. 9 confirmation hearing to be chief of staff of the Air Force, told Senators on the Armed Services Committee that he will give special close attention to JATM purchases, in coordination with the Navy.

“Aligning procurement annually can be difficult when balancing competing priorities on next-generation munitions versus current-year procurements,” Wilsbach said in written answers to SASC questions submitted ahead of the hearing. The comment may have indicated the Air Force and Navy have diverging ideas about when to transition from the AMRAAM to JATM.

In the last year, the Navy has adapted the surface-launched Standard Missile 6 to an air-launched version called the AIM-174B “Gunslinger,” said to have much greater range than AMRAAM. There are no indications that the Air Force is acquiring that missile, though, which would not fit within fifth-generation fighter weapons bays and was not designed to be very agile in flight nor protected against adversary air-to-air electronic spoofing