New AIM‑9X Sidewinder missile targets Russian drone in viral video

An interesting video has surfaced online showing the activity of a NASAMS anti-aircraft system battery. The video captures a missile launch that appears to be the newest member of the AIM-9 Sidewinder family. We present its performance.

In the video below, you can see one of the missiles launched from the NASAMS anti-aircraft system launcher, shooting down a Russian target (most likely a drone or cruise missile).

According to X user John Ridge, who specialises in anti-aircraft missiles, the fired missile could have been an AIM-9X Sidewinder. This is also indicated by the frame-by-frame analysis of the recording, which shows the missile's front part lacking large canards (characteristic of older versions) and its rear part having short fins.

AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles have been the standard short-range armament for most NATO aircraft since the 1950s. The AIM-9X variant, produced only since 2003, was an evolution of the older AIM-9L/M missiles, retaining only the rocket motor and the warhead weighing about 10 kilograms.

The rest of the missile has changed, from a slightly redesigned airframe with greater strength and modified aerodynamics to a new generation of the guidance head. This was already a fourth-generation design, operating in the infrared spectrum and seeing the thermal image of the target; hence the term IIR (imaging infrared).

Unlike older solutions, it can track the heated fuselage of an aircraft and not just a heat point in the form of the engine. It is also resistant to decoys like flares. Essentially, the only forms of protection against an attack are to outmanoeuvre it (nearly impossible) or to blind the head with a laser beam, which only very few self-defence systems can do.

The range depends on the version, as the Block I version can have a range above 16 kilometres, and the Block II version produced since 2015 is estimated to have a range of about 30 kilometres. It is also worth noting that in the Block II version, a communication link was added, enabling, for example, target confirmation post-launch or switching to another target.

The above range values apply to launches from aircraft at high altitudes. In the case of ground launches, the range will be significantly lower (below 19 kilometres), as the denser air causes greater drag and faster energy dissipation of the missile.