Standard Missile 6 (SM-6):
The US SM-6 missiles are hogging the headlines again after photographs of a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet appeared carrying an air-launched variant of the SM-6, or the RIM-174 missile.
- Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) is a multi-mission missile capable of anti air warfare, terminal ballistic missile defense, and anti ship strike roles.
- It was developed by Raytheon Company, a major U.S. defense contractor, primarily for the United States Navy.
- The first version of the Standard Missile-6 became operational in December 2014.
- It is the first missile of its kind, with anti-air, anti-surface, and sea-based terminal defence capabilities.
- It has a length of 6.6 m and a diameter of 0.5 m. It weighs 1,500 kg and carries a 64 kg blast fragmentation warhead.
- It is an extended-range active missile (ERAM) that uses the sophisticated signal processing and guidance technologies of the AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile).
- The interceptor uses semi-active homing and active homing guidance to achieve accurate engagement of the assigned targets.
- At its surface-to-air published range, the SM-6 achieves ranges of 240 km, with even higher estimated ranges up to 463 km.
