Danish Armed Forces press release translated by Naval News
SM-2 missiles are taken aboard and installed on the frigate Niels Juel. The missiles will be included in weapon system and fire control testing on the Danish frigates.
“We now have SM-2 missiles onboard that we will use to certify the weapon system. We have updated the fire control systems software on the ship and now need to verify that it is working. We previously tested the systems with a test missile that could not fly, and now we need to test with missiles that can actually fly.”
Anders Skeel, project manager for the procurement of the SM-2 missile system at the Ministry of Defence’s Materiel and Procurement Agency
Once the missile system is finally approved, it can be part of the area air defense, where the ship can protect not only itself but also other units from attacks by aircraft and missiles.
Installation of the missiles and final approval of all Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates to use the missile, as well as crew training, will begin as well. This will make the SM-2 system fully operational.
The SM-2 Block IIIA missile, also known as RIM 66, is a medium-range, radar-seeking, semi-active surface-to-air missile used primarily to counter anti-ship missiles (or surface-to-surface missiles), but also aircraft. It is cannot be used for ballistic missile defense. During the flight phase, the missile is constantly updated with target data from the ship.
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