Raytheon has delivered five Standard Missile-3 rounds to the Missile Defense Agency for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system. The Standard Missile-3 equips the United States Navy with a sea-based line of defense against limited ballistic missile attacks. The rounds are intended for deployment on Aegis cruisers and destroyers to defend against short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats in the midcourse phase of flight. Other SM-3 team members include Aerojet, Alliant Techsystems and Boeing.
As the prime contractor, Raytheon is responsible for the development and integration of the SM-3 all-up-round, including the SM-3 kinetic warhead. Under the 'all-up-round' concept, missiles are received aboard ship in containers completely assembled except for the wings and fins. Depending upon the particular missile and the type of container involved, the wings and fins may or may not be shipped in the same container as the missile. In most cases, the wings and fins are shipped in separate containers that contain either one complete set of wings and fins (four wings and four fins) or two sets of wings and fins (eight wings and eight fins).
Since January 2002, Aegis BMD system SM-3s have successfully intercepted targets in space four times. In each of the flight tests, the SM-3 was launched from a U.S. Navy cruiser under realistic operational conditions.
There is also international interest in Aegis BMD and SM-3. Earlier this year, Japan decided to procure Aegis BMD and SM-3 missiles for its Kongo-class Aegis destroyers.
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