The U.S. Navy has awarded Raytheon a $235 million contract for Standard Missile-6 all-up round production missiles and spares. Raytheon will begin delivery in 2018.
The missiles will be deployed on Aegis cruisers and destroyers to support U.S. Navy fleet operations.
The award funds the fourth consecutive year of full-rate production for the multi-mission missile, which recently accomplished significant testing milestones and achievements.
(The Missile Defense Agency and the USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53), an Aegis 5.0 (Baseline 9.C1)-equipped destroyer, successfully fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a medium-range ballistic missile target for the first time off the coast of Hawaii at about midnight on Dec. 14 local time. Credit: MDA and YouTube)
The contracted missiles will include an anti-surface capability, which was demonstrated in early 2016 during a highly successful tactical demonstration event off the coast of Kauai.
The SM-6 also set a new record for maximum down-range and maximum cross-range intercepts in over-the-horizon missions.
The display of offensive capability established SM-6 as a multi-mission missile with expanded capabilities in Anti-Air Warfare, Sea-Based Terminal and Anti-Surface Warfare.
“The SM-6 offers three missions, making it the most affordable missile per defended area and threat set,” said Mike Campisi, Standard Missile-6 senior program director.
“The SM-6 effector continues to perform beyond expectations and beyond its original mission.”
(On August 1, 2015, as part of a joint Missile Defense Agency/US Navy missile defense test, a BQM-74E cruise missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii. The USS John Paul Jones detected, tracked, and successfully engaged the target using an SM-6 Dual I missile. The SM-6’s proximity-fuze warhead was programmed not to detonate after reaching the lethal distance from the target, thus providing the ability to recover and reuse the BQM-74E target. Courtesy of MDA, Raytheon and YouTube)
Final assembly of SM-6 takes place at Raytheon’s state-of-the-art production facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.
Standard Missile-6
SM-6 delivers a proven, over-the-horizon defensive and offensive capability by leveraging the time-tested advantages of the Standard Missile’s airframe and propulsion and the active radar of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.
- The SM-6 uses both active and semi-active radar modes and advanced fuzing techniques.
- It incorporates the advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities from Raytheon’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.
- The SM-6 deployed for the first time in 2013, and Raytheon has delivered approximately 250 missiles.
Raytheon, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions.
With a history of innovation spanning 94 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries.
Raytheon SM-6 Intercepts Ballistic Missile Target at Sea (See in Action)
