Article Posted on : - Aug 16, 2016

Raytheon's Standard Missile-3 Block IIA completed its first flight test on June 6, 2015, at the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range Saint Nicolas Island Facility, California. Photo: Missile Defence Agency.

TUCSON, ARIZONA (BNS): The US Missile Defence Agency exercised a $523 million contract option with Raytheon Company to produce, test and deliver 47 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptors for operational testing and deployment.

The guided missiles are used by the US Navy to provide regional defense against short-to-intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.

"SM-3's sophisticated capability to destroy enemy ballistic missiles in space, and its flexibility to deploy from land or from sea make it invaluable as the centerpiece of the President's Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense in Europe," Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president was quoted as saying in the Raytheon's news release.

SM-3s destroy incoming ballistic missile threats in space using nothing more than sheer impact, which is equivalent to a 10-tonne truck traveling at 600 mph.

Production under this contract will be completed at Raytheon's world-class Space Factory in Tucson, Arizona, and integration will take place at Raytheon's state-of-the-art integration facility in Huntsville, Alaska.