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The U.S. Navy has approved the Raytheon Standard Missile-6 for use on guided missile destroyers and cruisers with older versions of the Aegis combat system, company officials told USNI News last week.

The SM-6 – a substantial upgrade in range and the ability to seek out targets over the older SM-2 – is the first weapon to be tied into the service’s emerging Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air (NIFC-CA) scheme as part of Aegis Baseline 9 upgrades to the Navy’s guided missile destroyers and cruisers.

The SM-6, in a NIFC-CA context, could ingest targeting information from an off-board sensor – like an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye – and attack a target beyond the range of the radars on the ship.

However, the SM-6s used with the older Aegis combat systems wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the remote targeting capability in NIFC-CA, Naval Sea Systems Command told USNI News on Monday.

What SM-6s bring to the older combat systems – starting with Baseline 5.3 – is an improved set of seekers and a greater range, Mike Campisi, Raytheon’s SM-6 senior program director, told USNI News last week.

“There was a lot evaluation that went on between the Navy and ourselves. The conclusion was that we need to release SM-6 to ships that have Baseline 5.3,” Campisi said.
“It has active and semi-active [seekers] You can utilize that capability and SM-6 has far longer legs than an SM-2. You get the long-range and you get the high degree of discrimination and you get the active mode.”

It’s unclear what the timeline will be for integrating the SM-6s with the older Baseline 5.3 ships.

Raytheon has delivered 160 SM-6s to the Navy so far ahead of an anticipated full-rate production in April. All told, the Navy could acquire up to 1,800 SM-6s.

The company and the service are also testing SM-6s as a counter to ballistic missiles in a so-called “sea-based terminal” configuration – missile threats that are in the final portion of their flight before hitting a target.

“We are talking about the sea-based terminal mission which is testing this year and goes active next year,” Campisi said.

Evaluations of more uses for the missile are ongoing.

Campisi did not answer the question if the SM-6s could have a secondary anti-ship attack function – like one currently on the SM-2.

“My direct answer to that is, SM-6 has a large number of potential [uses],” he said.
“We are in active evaluation of many different missions, purposes for the vessel. That’s the best answer I can give you.”

USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-53), July 8, 2014 – The Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy team’s [NYSE: LMT] Baseline 9 Aegis Combat System recently completed multiple exercises including the longest-range engagement ever tested with a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6). This is the first major series of tests for the integrated air and missile defense (IAMD)-equipped USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53), and highlights the system’s accuracy in identifying and destroying threats from beyond the radar horizon.

The first of three Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) exercises involved a long-range mission, known as AS-2A, which used data from a non-Aegis system to identify targets in a stressing scenario. The second and third tests, AS-2B and AS-2C, were conducted in increasingly difficult conditions that involved targets at varying altitudes and cross-sections.

“NIFC-CA is a game changer for the U.S. Navy because it can be used in collaboration with other systems, to track and destroy approaching cruise missiles at much longer distances than existing technologies can,” said Jim Sheridan, director of Aegis U.S. Navy programs for Lockheed Martin. “This validation of the NIFC-CA capability aboard a destroyer comes on the heels of the successful cruiser tests we completed onboard USS Chancellorsville back in August 2013 and we look forward to seeing this capability fielded in the fleet.”

NIFC-CA will be deployed on the Theodore Roosevelt Battle Group in 2015 after completing additional testing this year. 

TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- During the U.S. Navy's Combat Ship System Qualification Trials, the USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) tested two Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) Standard Missile-6 interceptors against anti-ship and cruise missile targets. As part of 'engage on remote' scenarios, the ship launched the SM-6 interceptors prior to its own radars 'seeing' the incoming threats, using targeting information from another Aegis ship in the area—the USS Sampson (DDG 102).

The first SM-6 intercepted a low-altitude, short-range supersonic target (GQM-163A), while the second intercepted a low-altitude, medium-range subsonic target (BQM-74E).  

"Advanced warning and cueing from another sensor or ship allows the U.S. Navy to take full advantage of SM-6's over-the-horizon capability," said Mike Campisi, Standard Missile-6 senior program director. "Now the warfighter does not have to wait until the threat is knocking at the door to take it out. Targets are destroyed much sooner and one ship can defend a much larger area."

Deployed for the first time in December 2013, SM-6 provides the U.S. Navy extended range protection against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and cruise missiles.

Raytheon has delivered more than 130 SM-6 interceptors to the U.S. Navy. The missile's final assembly takes place at Raytheon's state-of-the-art SM-6 and SM-3 all-up-round production facility at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala.

About the Standard Missile-6
SM-6 delivers a proven over-the-horizon air defense capability by leveraging the time-tested advantages of the Standard Missile's airframe and propulsion.

• The SM-6 uses both active and semiactive guidance 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.