Raytheon Missiles and Defense, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $45,095,203 fixed-price incentive firm and firm-fixed-price modification to previously awarded contract N00024-19-C-5412 exercising the option for fiscal 2021 Standard Missile-2 Block IIIC Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) and spares. Work is expected to be completed by September 2024. The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. (Awarded July 1, 2021).
The Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) family was developed to provide air and cruise missile defense as part of the Aegis Combat System on U.S. Navy ships. The SM-2 Blocks II, III, and IV each uses semi-active radar homing and has a blast-fragment warhead with a radar and contact fuse. The familiy of SM-2 interceptors are all solid-fueled and tail controlled, designed to launch from either a Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) (see model below) or Mk 26 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS).
Most versions of the SM-2 are designed to engage high-speed, high-altitude anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM) with midcourse guidance and radar support from the ship’s systems to help illuminate the target during the terminal intercept phase. The SM-2 has an extensive flight test history, with more than 2,700 successful live firings. Its durability has led navies in several countries to reconfigure their fleets to support SM-2 applications.
The SM-2 Block IIIC missile introduces a new guidance and homing section incorporating a dual-mode (active/semi-active) radar seeker. The new active seeker baseline leverages prior investment in the SM-6 Block I and Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 missiles. Another activity being performed as part of the SM-2 Improvements programme is an insensitive munitions effort to introduce a single pulse electronic ignition safety device for the MK 104 Dual Thrust Rocket Motor.
