LAU-127

The LAU-127 is part of a family of single rail missile launchers (MRL or Missile Rail Launchers) which are capable of the carriage and release of either AIM-9 Sidewinder of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles. Depending on the variant, they can be used on under wing stations of the aircraft, mounted to pylons, or on wingtip stations.

The LAU-127 is specifically integrated with F/A-18A/B/C/D Hornets and F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and EA-18 Growlers. It contains a power supply and either a supply of bottled nitrogen coolant for the missile seeker heads (A/A, B/A, D/A and E/A variants) or a Pure Air Gas Generation Systems (PAGS) unit (C/A and F/A variants).

Variants include the LAU-127A/A, LAU-127B/A, LAU-127C/A, LAU-127D/A, LAU-127E/A and LAU-127F/A. There are slight weight variations among these different versions, and PAGS equipped units are also slightly longer than the nitrogen bottled equipped versions.

The LAU-139 for the Gripen is also a variation of the LAU-127 Launcher.