The Navy’s SM-6 missile has become an all-star of multi-role capability and a shining example of how repackaging existing systems with some new tech can garner grand results. The missile can shoot down air-breathing threats like aircraft and cruise missiles, it can swat incoming ballistic missiles in the terminal phases of flight, it can attack sea targets, and it even has a latent land attack potential. It is also network enabled and can engage targets well beyond the sensor reach of its launch platform using telemetry data-linked from a third-party platform, like a jet fighter. It does all this over long ranges, reaching out over 150 miles from its vertical launch cell aboard American destroyers and cruisers. Now, according to 2020 budget request documents, this versatile missile is set to get upsized for considerably more range and speed, and that is a very big deal.
The SM-6 was originally designed to leverage existing components, most notably the airframe of the SM-2ER Block IV Standard Missile and the seeker from an AIM-120C AMRAAM air-to-air missile. It has quickly evolved to be more potent and flexible since its introduction into service in 2013. Now, the latest SM-6 derivative is slated to shed its legacy airframe, one which doesn’t take advantage of the full diameter of the launch cells in the Navy’s Mk41 vertical launch systems, and be redesigned with a 21 inch diameter motor that will substantially increase the type’s range and speed.
