Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

DEFEA 2023
  • News
  • Event News
    • Sea Air Space 2023
    • DSEI Japan 2023
    • NAVDEX 2023
    • SNA 2023
    • Euronaval 2022
    • Indo Pacific 2022
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home» Event News» SNA 2019»Raytheon’s ESSM Block 2 set for final guided flight test
IMDEX Asia 2023
Raytheon's ESSM Block 2 set for final guided flight test
Raytheon's ESSM Block 2. File picture: US Navy

Raytheon’s ESSM Block 2 set for final guided flight test

Xavier Vavasseur 16 Jan 2019

The U.S. Navy has scheduled the last guided flight test of the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 to further evaluate the weapon’s new active guidance seeker, Naval News has learned during the Surface Navy Association’s National Symposium currently held near Washington DC.

The seeker upgrade provides sailors with more flexibility, enabling them to deploy ESSM in active or semi-active guidance modes. Developed by the U.S. Navy and nine of the other 11-member nations of the NATO SEASPARROW Consortium, the ESSM missile is bringing transformational anti-ship missile defense capabilities to the U.S., NATO and other allies. The NATO SeaSparrow Project marked its 50th anniversary last year.  It is the largest and longest running cooperative weapons program in NATO.

About ESSM
ESSM is a medium-range, all-weather, semi-active radar-guided missile used in surface-to-air and surface-to-surface roles. ESSM represents more than four decades of technology and design improvements by a 43-year international cooperative partnership composed of 12 nations, 10 of which employ ESSM (and FMS to 3 countries: Japan, UAE and Thailand).

As a tail-controlled missile, ESSM uses enhancements to its guidance system to take advantage of improved seeker sensitivity, increased propulsion and greater weapon accuracy. These features enable ESSM to arrive at the intercept point with more endgame speed and agility to counter the threat.

ESSM’s capability bridges the gap between close-in air defense and local area defense systems. Its kinematics result in reduced time to target. It is a Multi-mission weapon system is effective against high-speed or low-velocity threats.

According to open sources, the RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) has a range of about 27 nautical miles (50 Km) and a top speed of Mach 4+.

Unlike Block 1, Block 2’s active radar homing seeker will support terminal engagement without the launch ship’s target illumination radars. The improved ESSM Block 2 will be fielded by the US Navy from 2020.

ESSM Raytheon SAM SNA 2019 2019-01-16
Tags ESSM Raytheon SAM SNA 2019
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More
SAS 2023

Authors

Posted by : Xavier Vavasseur
Xavier is based in Paris, France. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration from Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Xavier has been covering naval defense topics for nearly a decade.

Related Articles

HMAS Toowoomba fires first ESSM after AMCAP upgrade

HMAS Toowoomba fires first ESSM after AMCAP upgrade

Naval News Staff 09 Mar 2023
Royal Australian Navy's Anzac-class frigate HMAS Toowoomba conducted the first ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile) firing after the AMCAP modernization.
U.S. Navy taps Raytheon to deliver JPALS to Japan

U.S. Navy taps Raytheon to deliver JPALS to Japan

Naval News Staff 13 Feb 2023
Raytheon was awarded a FMS contract to deliver JPALS, to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force by the U.S. Navy.
Video: Raytheon SPY-6 Radar at SNA 2023

Video: Raytheon SPY-6 Radar at SNA 2023

Xavier Vavasseur 13 Jan 2023
Mike Mills, senior director, naval radar programs at Raytheon, discusses the latest on the SPY-6 radar program during SNA 2023.

One Comment

  1. Pingback : Leonardo to Supply New 127mm Main Guns for Netherlands Navy's LCF Frigates - Naval News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 Naval News
All Rights Reserved