Navy orders infrared sensor-guided RAM missile systems to protect ships from aircraft, missiles, and boats
WASHINGTON – Shipboard missile-defense experts at the Raytheon Co. will provide the U.S. Navy and U.S. allies with the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Block 2 to protect ships from aircraft, missiles, and small surface vessels under terms of a $91.1 million order announced Wednesday.
Officials of the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington are asking Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., to provide fiscal 2019 Navy procurements of the MK 44 RAM Block 2 guided missile round pack and spare replacement components.
RAM is a ship self-defense weapon designed to protect ships of all sizes, ranging from 500-ton fast attack craft to 95,000-ton aircraft carriers.
A supersonic, lightweight, quick-reaction, fire-and-forget weapon, the RAM missile system is designed to attack enemy helicopters, aircraft, and surface craft. It uses passive RF and infrared guidance for engaging several threats simultaneously.
Related: Navy beefing-up air-defense capabilities of U.S., Japan, and South Korea surface warships
RAM Block 2 has a large rocket motor, advanced control section, and an enhanced RF receiver able to detect quiet threat emitters. It is more maneuverable and longer range than its predecessors.
The MK 44 guided missile round pack and the MK 49 guided missile launching system together hold 21 missiles. Existing shipboard sensors can provide the system with target and pointing information.
The MK 44 missile also part of the SeaRAM anti-ship missile defense system, replacing the M601A1 Gatling gun in the Phalanx close-in weapon system with an 11-round launcher.
The Phalanx system’s infrared sensor suite and internal combat management system reduces its dependence on the ship’s combat system and enables a fast reaction.
The RAM is an international cooperative program between the U.S. and Germany. Raytheon shares development, production and maintenance with the German companies MBDA Missile Systems in Schrobenhausen, Germany; Diehl BGT Defence (DBD) in Überlingen, Germany; and RAM-System GmbH (RAMSYS) in Ottobrunn, Germany.
Raytheon and its partners will do the work in Ottobrunn, Germany; Tucson, Ariz.; Rocket Center, W.Va.; Dallas; Mason, Ohio; Glenrothes, Scotland; Cincinnati; Andover, Mass.; and other U.S. locations, and should be finished by November 2021.
For more information contact Raytheon Missile Systems online at www.raytheon.com, or Naval Sea Systems Command at www.navsea.navy.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
