Standard missile

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Image:Standard Missile.jpg The Standard Missile is a type of surface-to-air missile (SAM) originally developed for the United States Navy (USN). In September 2003, the USN ceased to support the RIM-66 Standard and withdrew it from service, though the missile continues to be used by other navies. The SM-1 was developed as a replacement for the Terrier missile and Tartar missile systems deployed in the 1950s on a variety of USN ships. The SM-1 was used during the Vietnam War. It used the same fuselage as the earlier Tartar, for easier use with existing launchers and magazines. The RIM-67 Standard II, aka. Standard Missile 2, was developed in the 1970s and was a key part of the Aegis combat system and New Threat Upgrade (NTU). In the early 1980s a critical decision was to deploy the missile via vertical launch. Due to the ramp-up in defense spending during the Reagan presidency, Raytheon was brought on as a second source. Previously, all Standard missiles were produced by General Dynamics. The SM-1 and SM-2 were continuously upgraded through Blocks (see below).

Versions of the Standard missile were used as the basis for Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (TBMD) systems. Two were initially developed, the "Navy Area" and "Navy Theater-Wide". The "Navy Area" system was cancelled by the United States Department of Defense due to delays in its development and cost-growth. "Navy Theater-Wide" continues under another name as part of the Missile Defense Agency's family of systems.

Some references claim a limited surface-to-surface capability.

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SM-2 Block III/IIIA/IIIB Medium Range

General characteristics

  • Primary function: surface-to-air
  • Contractor: Raytheon and others
  • Power plant: dual thrust, solid fuel rocket
  • Length: 15 ft., 6 in. (4.72 m)
  • Weight: SM-2 – 1,558 lb (708 kg)
  • Diameter: 13.5 in. (343 mm)
  • Wing span: 3 ft., 6 in. (1.08 m)
  • Range: 40 to 90 nautical miles (74 to 167 km)
  • Guidance system: semi-active radar homing (IR in Block IIIB)
  • Warhead: radar and contact fuze, blast fragmentation warhead
  • Date deployed: 1981 (SM-2MR)
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SM-2 Block IV Extended Range

General characteristics

  • Primary function: fleet and extended area air defense
  • Contractor: Raytheon and others
  • Power plant: two-staged solid-fueled rockets
  • Length: 21 ft., 6 in. (6.55 m) with booster
  • Weight: 3,225 lb (1466 kg)
  • Diameter: 21 in. (533 mm) with booster
  • Wing Span: 3 ft., 6 in. (1.08 m)
  • Range: 100 to 200 nautical miles (190 to 370 km)
  • Guidance system: semi-active radar homing
  • Warhead: radar and contact fuze, blast-fragment warhead
  • Date deployed: 1998

[Note: the SM-2ER is no longer deployed by the US Navy because all of its cruisers and destroyers that carried it, such as the USS Long Beach, have been retired from service. The last ship known to carry the SM-2ER is a cruiser of the Italian Navy. The Martin Marietta Mk. 41 Vertical Launch System carried by USN guided missile cruisers and destroyers does not accommodate the length of the SM-2ER. Thus, this missile is not part of the Aegis air defense system carried by the Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, nor is it carried by the Mk. 41 launchers installed on some of the Spruance-class destroyers – these have the SM-2MR. A decision must have been made to carry more and smaller missiles for the Aegis system, sacrificing the longer range of the SM-2ER.]

Information above copied from [1]. See also [2] for an overview of the "SM" family. A good overall source is Norman Friedman's Modern Warship: Design and Development, Naval Institute Press, 1977.de:Standard Missile ja:スタンダードミサイル

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