Secretive AIM-260 Air-to-Air Missile Finally Breaks Cover

Analysis
The May 13 AIM-260 flight represents live weapons employment, not carriage qualification, per a single primary source corroborated by three secondaries. The aircraft returned without the missile, and the concurrent E-9A Widget, which exists to clear maritime airspace during live munitions employment, confirms the event was a live shoot. The missile's configuration, no mid-body control surfaces and enlarged aft motor, confirms a propulsive tradeoff of midcourse agility for range exceeding 120 miles within AMRAAM dimensions. A near-tripling of the FY2027 budget request from $894 million to $2.9 billion signals production contracting already underway, though the surge may instead reflect production-line setup costs and multi-year contract awards. The actual IOC date remains publicly unknown following contradictory congressional signals late last year.