IHS Jane’s 360:
Key Points
- The 18 January flight test demonstrated the anti-surface capability of the SM-6 missile with the latest Aegis Combat System Baseline 9
- Use of SM-6 in the over-the-horizon ASuW role is aligned to the US Navy’s new ‘Distributed Lethality’ surface warfare doctrine
The US Navy (USN) has completed a successful demonstration of the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) Block I extended range area air defence missile in an offensive anti-surface warfare (ASuW) mode, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) disclosed on 3 March.
Conducted from the DDG-51 Flight I guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) off Hawaii on 18 January, the test served to validate that the legacy ASuW capability of the Aegis Weapon System Mk 7 and the SM-2 missile has been successfully carried forward into the latest Aegis Combat System Baseline 9 with the SM-6 missile.
