At a time when the US has made its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific clear amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, the Pentagon has unveiled a new long-range air-to-air missile that could change the balance of power. Not only can the AIM-174B missile hit targets in far-flung areas, it can also bring about a paradigm shift in US-China relations and the balance of power, not just in the Indo-Pacific but globally.

AIM-174B long-range air-to-air missile

The AIM-174B missile is actually a RIM-174 Standard Missile-6 (SM-6). It is a large weapon weighing 1.6 tons and carrying two solid rocket boosters that can be fired from a ship’s vertical launch system. It can hit targets 230 miles or over 110,000 feet away at up to 3.5 times the speed of sound.

First appeared at the RIMPAC exercise

The US-made missile first appeared on the wings of the F/A-18E Super Hornet on July 2, 2024, when it was photographed during the RIMPAC exercise under the US Pacific Command at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.

Well, I’ll be damned. A pair of inert, air-launched Standard Missile 6s on a US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet from VFA-192 at Inouye International for RIMPAC 2024.

The designation is XAIM-174B, so the focus is clearly on air-to-air and not air-to-ground
(📸 @aeros808 on IG) pic.twitter.com/XmCtPKSJYK

– John Ridge 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 (@John_A_Ridge) July 3, 2024

AIM-54C Phoenix missile is being retired

The development of the long-range missile ended nearly three decades of painstaking work after the Pentagon retired its previous longest-range air-to-air weapon, the Navy’s AIM-54C Phoenix missile, in 2004. It was followed by the F-14 Tomcat fighter jets designed to carry the missiles.

It is equivalent to the Russian Rh-37 Vympel long-range hypersonic air-to-air missile with a range of 400 km. However, the US missile is significant because it is equivalent to the Chinese PL-15 long-range missile with a range of 300-350 kilometers.

Against China’s PL-15 and PL-17 missiles

After China emerged as the only global power capable of challenging US hegemony, the balance of power shifted to the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region. China’s People’s Liberation Army or its navy have never publicly admitted this, but defense experts believe that Beijing has not only developed but also deployed an advanced version of the PL-15, the PL-17 missile with a range of 400 km. After the AIM-54 Phoenix and F-14 Tomcat were retired, the US no longer had a missile that could compete with the Chinese navy. Now it has a proper answer to China.

China deploys fourth-generation J-16 fighter jet

Second, after reportedly deploying its fourth-generation J-16 fighter jet, China has shifted the balance of power in East Asia. A Chinese stealth bomber can attack any non-stealthed U.S. aircraft and shoot it down well beyond its range, leaving it no way to strike back.

Will the AIM-174B missile stop China from dominating the Indo-Pacific?

With the AIM-174B missiles, the US Navy can now at least counter any Chinese aggression and keep it under control. Now the US fighter jets can attack Chinese military facilities from a long distance.

As tensions in the Taiwan Strait escalate, the South China Sea dispute intensifies, and the Indo-Pacific region opens up a new area of ​​command, any spark could lead to a major upheaval that could send the two countries into skirmishes at any time. AIM-174B missiles can have a deterrent effect.