One of Raytheon’s newest missile killers hit its mark in a recent test against a ballistic missile near the end of its flight.
The U.S. Navy fired two Standard Missile-6 Dual I guided missiles, developed by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems, from the destroyer USS John Paul Jones during a test Wednesday off the coast of Hawaii.
The test resulted in a successful intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile in the terminal, or final, stage of the target missile’s flight, Raytheon said. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said the test met all of its objectives.
The SM-6 Dual 1 succeeds the SM-2 Block IV missile as the Navy’s go-to weapon against enemy missiles nearing the end of their flight. Raytheon’s ship-based Standard Missile-3 is designed to engage ballistic missiles in mid-flight.
The SM-6 Dual, which is already in full-rate production, is on track to reach “final operating capability,” Raytheon said. The company said it has delivered more than 315 SM-6 missiles.
