*Source: Defense Media / U.S. AIR FORCE
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - June 17, 2009: The U.S. Air Force wants to look at arming fighter jets to shoot down ballistic missiles, according to a letter from Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz to the head of the U.S. Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency. 
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz wants to examine the viability of a system called Air Launched Hit-to-Kill. (SENIOR AIRMAN LAURA TURNER / U.S. AIR FORCE)
The June 2 letter from Schwartz, addressed to the MDA director, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, called for a study of arming F-15s and F-16s, and possibly F-22s and F-35s, with specialized munitions under a concept dubbed Air Launched Hit-to-Kill.
Schwartz said a 2008 war game, based in the European theater in 2020, piqued the interest of the Air Force to study the ALHK concept.
"This examination indicated several ALHK approaches may be operationally suitable for employment from Air Force fighters," Schwartz wrote.
An accompanying white paper said the growing threat of increasing ballistic missiles in smaller nations could outstrip the military's ability to overcome a missile attack.
The ALHK strategy would have roving packs of fighters, along with a support network of tankers and reconnaissance and radar aircraft to intercept missiles in rapidly established protection zones.
The paper said the mission could be carried out by F-16s and F-15s, with more study need to explore the possibility of equipping F-35s and F-22s. The fighters would be armed with two types of missiles that could bring down ballistic missiles in their launch phase or from higher in the atmosphere.
For high atmospheric interception, the paper suggested the Air Force consider a modified Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile, a 1,500-pound version of an Army ground-based missile.
For use lower in the atmosphere, the paper suggested using an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile designed to intercept shorter-range ballistic missiles. The missiles, according to the developer, Raytheon Co., would fit into any AMRAAM-capable fighter with minimum modifications.
The request to the MDA comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser, designed to kill ballistic missiles in their early launch phases, and recent North Korean ballistic missile tests that have raised tension in the South Pacific.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz wants to examine the viability of a system called Air Launched Hit-to-Kill. (SENIOR AIRMAN LAURA TURNER / U.S. AIR FORCE)
The June 2 letter from Schwartz, addressed to the MDA director, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, called for a study of arming F-15s and F-16s, and possibly F-22s and F-35s, with specialized munitions under a concept dubbed Air Launched Hit-to-Kill.
Schwartz said a 2008 war game, based in the European theater in 2020, piqued the interest of the Air Force to study the ALHK concept.
"This examination indicated several ALHK approaches may be operationally suitable for employment from Air Force fighters," Schwartz wrote.
An accompanying white paper said the growing threat of increasing ballistic missiles in smaller nations could outstrip the military's ability to overcome a missile attack.
The ALHK strategy would have roving packs of fighters, along with a support network of tankers and reconnaissance and radar aircraft to intercept missiles in rapidly established protection zones.
The paper said the mission could be carried out by F-16s and F-15s, with more study need to explore the possibility of equipping F-35s and F-22s. The fighters would be armed with two types of missiles that could bring down ballistic missiles in their launch phase or from higher in the atmosphere.
For high atmospheric interception, the paper suggested the Air Force consider a modified Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile, a 1,500-pound version of an Army ground-based missile.
For use lower in the atmosphere, the paper suggested using an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile designed to intercept shorter-range ballistic missiles. The missiles, according to the developer, Raytheon Co., would fit into any AMRAAM-capable fighter with minimum modifications.
The request to the MDA comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Boeing YAL-1 Airborne Laser, designed to kill ballistic missiles in their early launch phases, and recent North Korean ballistic missile tests that have raised tension in the South Pacific.
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