US Navy Expands Shipboard Missile Authorization
The U.S. Navy authorized ships in the Aegis Combat Weapon System baselines 5.3 and 3.A.0 series to carry the Raytheon Company Standard Missile-6. The authorization expands the missile's use from five ships to more than 35 ships.
"SM-6 is the longest range integrated air and missile defense interceptor deployed, and its multirole capabilities are unprecedented," said Mike Campisi, Standard Missile-6 senior program director. "Its use is transforming how we define fleet defense."
To date, Raytheon has delivered more than 130 missiles to the U.S. Navy, which deployed SM-6 for the first time in December 2013, the company said. SM-6 is a surface-to-air supersonic missile designed to engage manned and unmanned aerial vehicles and fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. It also defends against land-attack and anti-ship cruise missiles in flight.