Can the AIM-424 Malice Make a 350-Mile Air-to-Air Kill?
Today we take our fourth look at the newly announced USN AIM-424 Malice super-long-range air-to-air missile in DCS World — and this time we’re pushing it to the absolute limit.
The goal: a record-breaking 350-mile air-to-air missile shot against a high-value target.
Can the AIM-424 Malice actually reach a target at this extreme range, and can it receive enough guidance data to make the shot possible?
Off-Board Guidance at Extreme Range
The F-35 launching the missile won’t be able to track the target with its own radar at 350 miles.
Instead, we’ll use a hidden F-35 positioned much closer to the target. Its AESA LPI radar will illuminate the target and provide tracking information and datalink firing data back to the launching F-35, allowing the AIM-424 to use off-board missile guidance.
This means the launching aircraft does not need to directly detect or track the target itself. Instead, another aircraft provides the targeting information needed to support the missile shot.
The Target
The target is a fictional UK presidential aircraft, protected by Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4s during a fictional period of heightened tensions.
The forward F-35 has to carefully manoeuvre around the Typhoons, remaining outside their detection range while maintaining the target track needed to support the long-range missile shot.
That creates another challenge: the forward F-35 must remain close enough to maintain the necessary tracking information without being detected or intercepted by the defending fighters.
Testing the AIM-424 Malice
This is a fictional DCS World scenario created to test the AIM-424 Malice’s extreme-range capabilities — not a geopolitical scenario.
The purpose is to explore whether this type of extraordinarily long-range air-to-air engagement could work within the simulation.
Can we achieve a 350-mile shot?
Is the AIM-424’s range kinematically possible?
Can the F-35’s AESA radar and datalink provide the necessary electronic support?
Let’s find out.
