US Navy tests RAM Block 2A missile
The US Navy has successfully completed a series of guided flight tests of the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2A short-range, surface-to-air missile, Raytheon announced on 19 June.
The testing, which took place at the Naval Air Warfare Center in China Lake, California, and from the navy’s self-defence test ship off the coast of Southern California, demonstrated the missile’s improved guidance and targeting capabilities.
RAM is a ship self-defence weapon designed to protect ships of all sizes, from 500-ton fast attack craft to 95,000-ton aircraft carriers. The latest software upgrade enhances guidance and the missile’s capability to defeat threats.
Raytheon expects to deliver the RAM Block 2A missile to the navy by the end of the year.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
Competitive P17B tender marks a shift in Indian Navy frigate procurement
The Indian Navy's P17B programme is expected to combine greater weapons capacity with a competitive domestic construction model, although key systems could remain dependent on international supply chains.
-
How France’s SNLE 3G programme is reshaping the naval nuclear industrial base
Extending far beyond a four-submarine replacement programme, France’s ballistic missile submarine effort is a decades-long industrial initiative designed to preserve the country’s ability to build and sustain nuclear-powered strategic platforms.
-
Quantum Systems enters maritime domain with Baltic-focused USV and UUV
Quantum Systems has launched into the maritime domain with Seavex and Subvex, aiming to close a Baltic Sea ISR gap opened by infrastructure sabotage.
-
Suppliers await next step in Australia’s mine warfare transition
Australia’s mine countermeasure capability remains in flux as the Huon-class nears retirement, but accelerated investment in autonomous systems is opening a path for industry.
-
Can the US Navy ask Indo-Pacific allies to do more while training with them less?
As the Iran War draws US ships and marine corps units away from the Indo-Pacific, curtailed exercises and a temporary carrier gap are exposing tensions between Washington’s demand for more self-reliant allies and the joint training needed to realise that ambition.