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US Navy SM-6 test displays missile's improved capability

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Naval Forces News - USA
 
 
 
US Navy SM-6 test displays missile's improved capability
 
The U.S. Navy successfully executed a test of the surface-to-air Standard Missile-6 Block IA (SM-6 Blk IA) at the White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico, on June 7. This test demonstrated SM-6 Blk IA’s improved capabilities and integration with the Aegis weapon system. The event was the third of three required flight tests successfully executed at WSMR. At-sea testing of the SM-6 Blk IA is planned to commence in the fall of 2017.
     
US Navy SM-6 test displays missile's improved capabilityFile picture: The Missile Defense Agency and sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), an Aegis baseline 9.C1 equipped destroyer, successfully fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a complex medium-range ballistic missile target, demonstrating the Sea Based Terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability and meeting the test's primary objective.
     
“This final land test is a critical milestone which demonstrates Blk IA’s improved capability,” said Capt. John Keegan, Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) major program manager for surface ship weapons. “I am very proud of the entire test team for their extensive planning and technical rigor that went into execution of this event.”

The SM-6 Blk IA provides an over-the-horizon engagement capability when launched from an Aegis-equipped warship and uses the latest in hardware and software missile technology to provide needed capabilities against evolving air threats. Initial Operational Capability for SM-6 Blk IA is planned for the end of 2018.
     
US Navy SM-6 test displays missile's improved capabilityFile picture: The Missile Defense Agency and sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), an Aegis baseline 9.C1 equipped destroyer, successfully fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a complex medium-range ballistic missile target, demonstrating the Sea Based Terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability and meeting the test's primary objective.
     
About SM-6
The multi-mission SM-6 delivers proven over-the-horizon, air defense through the time-tested advantages of the Standard Missile's airframe and propulsion.
SM-6 uses both active and semi-active guidance modes and advanced fuzing techniques.
It incorporates the advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities of Raytheon's Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM.
SM-6 delivers multi-mission capability for long-range Fleet Air Defense, Sea-Based Terminal defense, and Anti-Surface Warfare