The Navy along with prime contractors Raytheon [RTN] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] conducted the first tests of the new SM-6 missile on a destroyer equipped with the latest version of the Aegis combat system, the companies said Wednesday.
The testing aboard the USS John Paul Jones (DDG- 53) took place in June off of southern California and involved the firing of three SM-6s at over-the horizon targets, including subsonic low-altitude drones and cruise missiles. All hit the targets.
The tests were conducted under the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) mission. The new SM-6, which had already been deployed, is designed to take out threats at greater distances than the SM-6 for air-theater defense, and is also designed to counter ballistic missiles in their terminal flight phase.
The Navy is gearing up for testing against ballistic missiles in the next year. Mike Campisi, the director of the SM-6 program at Raytheon, told reporters the goal is to keep expanding the reach of the missile, but declined to state what the range was during the tests.
“We want to test the envelope, we want to push it out as far as we can,” he said.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Aegis baseline 9 system employed during the test. Aegis consists of the radar and other systems that guided the SM-6 to the target.
“This validation of the NIFC-CA capability aboard a destroyer comes on the heels of the successful cruiser tests we completed onboard USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) back in August 2013 and we look forward to seeing this capability fielded in the fleet,” said Jim Sheridan, director of Aegis U.S. Navy programs for Lockheed Martin.