TUCSON, Ariz.—The Navy formally took delivery of the newest version of the Rolling Airframe Missile for ship defense, a Block 2 variant designed for greater range and improved maneuverability and targeting.
The brief ceremony to roll out the RAM Block 2 took place Wednesday at builder Raytheon’s [RTN] missile production facility here.
“It is a significant accomplishment for the RAM program and the U.S. Navy to accept our first Block 2 missile on time and within budget,” said Capt. John Keegan, the Navy’s program manager for RAM.
The RAM program is a cooperative developmental effort between the Navy and German Defense Ministry and the systems are procured by other counties as well, including South Korea, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey and Greece.
Keegan told a couple of reporters after the ceremony that the new version features improved surface control that increases maneuverability to more rapidly adjust to the flight pattern of anti-ship missiles, and a broader radio frequency sensor for better targeting.
The RAM 2 has 30 percent greater range than its Block 1 predecessor, he said, without revealing the farthest distance at which it could intercept because the range is classified.
Thirty of the missiles have been delivered so far, and just more than 200 are to be produced for the Navy under low-rate production, Keegan said. In all, the Navy plans to buy around 2,000 RAM 2s while the German government is currently planning to procure 445, he said. The average unit cost for each missile throughout production is expected to be about $800,000, he said.
The RAMs are deployed on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and Littoral Combat Ships, and are primarily designed to thwart attacking enemy missiles. They have an alternate mode to counter helicopters or small, swarming attack boats, but have not been certified for that mission set, Keegan said.
The joint U.S.-German RAM program has been in place for more than 30 years. The German firm RAMSYS partners with Raytheon. During the ceremony, Keegan said the U.S. and German governments have agreed to continue supporting production into 2019, and recently signed a memorandum extending their cooperation in developing the system to 2021.
The Navy issued Raytheon the low-rate production contract in in 2012 valued at $51.7 million. The German government awarded Raytheon a $155.6 million production contract for RAM 2 last year and the first system is scheduled for delivery in 2016.