US Navy tests first Standard Missile-2 from Raytheon's Restarted Production Line

The United States Navy has flight tested the first Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) surface-to-air missile from Raytheon's production line that was restarted to supply the missiles to South Korea, Japan, Australia and Netherlands.

The SM-2 Block IIIB missile launched, flew and provided accurate telemetry data to the range, and engaged an airborne Navy target, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Raytheon and the Navy restarted the production line to meet global demand. The program invested in new equipment and improved manufacturing processes to increase efficiencies.

In 2020, the company will provide more than 280 SM-2 Block IIIA and IIIB missiles from its latest production batch to the above mentioned countries.

The missile defends navies against anti-ship missiles and aircraft out to 90 nautical miles and an altitude of 65,000 feet. SM-2 has an extensive flight test history with more than 2,700 successful live firings.