Raytheon has completed the final land-based test for its interceptor missile designed to support anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and sea-based terminal ballistic missile defense operations.
The company said Tuesday that the Standard Missile-6 Block IA platform was used to intercept and eliminate a subsonic target from a test site located in southern New Mexico as part of the test.
SM-6 Block IA will move on to at-sea testing as part of efforts towards low-rate initial production slated to begin later in the year.
The SM-6 missile offers over-the-horizon offensive and defensive capacities for the surface forces of the U.S. and its allies.
Mike Campisi, Raytheon senior program director for the SM-6, said that the Block IA missile helps boost the precision capacity of the SM-6 offering.
Raytheon noted that the final assembly of the SM-6 missile is conducted at the company’s production facility in Huntsville, Alabama.