Raytheon Standard Missile-6 Linked With F-35 Knocks Down Target In First Test

Raytheon Standard Missile-6 linked with an F-35 fighter has destroyed a medium-range, medium-altitude, subsonic target in the US Navy’s first flight test.

The USS Desert Ship (LLS 1), a land-based US Navy Combat System equipped with the latest AEGIS Baseline, fired the SM-6, which intercepted the over-the-horizon target, out of sight of its operators.

The mission was the latest in a test series for Naval Integrated Fire Control – Counter Air, or NIFC-CA, a program designed to link US Navy ships and various airborne sensors, such as the F-35 into a single integrated sensor network, the company announced Wednesday.

During this capability demonstration, the SM-6 received continuous updates from the network, including the fighter aircraft, leading to the successful intercept of the target.

"This test once again demonstrates the multi-dimensional capability provided by pairing the NIFC-CA system and the multi-mission SM-6," said Mike Campisi, SM-6 Senior program director. "By linking SM-6 with airborne sensors on the F-35 or other aircraft through NIFC-CA, we help to dominate the combat environment and defeat the threat."

SM-6 provides US Navy vessels with extended-range protection against fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight, and an offensive capability against surface targets.