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WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin unveiled on Thursday details of a next-generation air-to-air missile developed to counter threats from \u200bChina and a new agreement with the Defense Department to \u200cboost production as the Pentagon rebuilds munitions stockpiles.<\/strong><\/p>\n The war on Iran depleted U.S. and allied missile stocks, spurring a push to rapidly acquire less \u200bexpensive long-range precision-strike weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a \u201cReal or Fake?\u201d quiz in every edition. Sign up here.<\/span><\/p>\n The missile, known as the AIM-260 \u200bJoint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM), has been developed in secrecy \u2060for years as the U.S. military\u2019s answer to increasingly capable \u200blong-range air threats from China. Lockheed said the weapon offers greater \u200brange and effectiveness than existing air-to-air missiles \u2014 an advantage against Chinese fighter jets like the J-20.<\/span><\/p>\n The AIM-260 will be used on stealth fighters like the \u200bF-22 Raptor and F-35.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cJATM is one of our nation\u2019s most \u200bimportant air dominance capabilities, but because of the classified nature of the program, \u200cit\u2019s \u2060also a story we haven\u2019t been able to tell,\u201d Tim Cahill, president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to finally talk about the extraordinary work \u200bbehind this missile \u200band how we\u2019re \u2060working with the U.S. government to rapidly scale production.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The first images of the weapon emerged in \u200bMay and Australia has announced it will buy \u200broughly $521 million \u2060worth of JATM missiles. The quantity and unit price were not disclosed.<\/span><\/p>\n