USN orders ESSM Block 2 support from Raytheon
ESSM launch from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower. (Photo: USN/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class J Alexander Delgado)
Raytheon gains contract modification to support ESSM Block 2 full-rate production requirements.
Raytheon has received a $269.03 million contract modification from US Naval Sea Systems Command to support FY2021-FY2023 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 full-rate production requirements, the DoD announced on 14 December.
Work will be completed by March 2025 at sites in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and the US.
The RIM-162 ESSM entered service in 2004. Shephard Defence Insight notes that the missile is fitted with a 39kg blast fragmentation warhead, a mid-course update data link, a Mk 143 Mod 0 solid fuel rocket motor, and a semi-active radar homing system or a dual semi-active/active radar homing system.
Block 2 ESSMs include a new guidance system with a dual-mode active and semi-active radar.
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