The US. Navy Vice Adm. Jon Hill, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency,
or MDA has indicated that the U.S already has a weapon
that can intercept highly-maneuverable incoming hypersonic projectiles.
The weapon is the SM-6 missile
Hill made the remarks about the SM-6 during a discussion about hypersonic defense capabilities
at the American Society of Naval Engineers' Combat Systems Symposium, which opened on Jan. 31
Viewers may note that MDA is leading an effort to develop a layered defense architecture
against hypersonic threats that includes an array of
ground and space-based sensors and several types of interceptors.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how the U.S military can knock down hypersonic threats
using SM-6 missile? Let's get started.
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Hill said that the SM-6 series "is really the nation’s only hypersonic defense capability,"
He added that these weapons have a "nascent capability" to engage incoming
hypersonic threats that are maneuvering to a high degree.
He explained, “We didn’t call it that back when we got the letter from the
CNO [Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy's top uniformed officer] to go develop this program,
but the whole idea was to handle high-speed maneuver".
Hill didn't point to any particular version of this missile - the missile has two variants
Block I and Block IA in service while a third version, the Block IB, is under development
This revelation came after the agency revealed plans to test a new version of the SM-6
against an "advanced maneuvering threat"
An object is said to be hypersonic once they exceed the speeds of
Mach 5 which is 5 times the speed of sound.
This is about 1,715 meters per second or 3,836mph or 6,174 km/h.
Hypersonic weapons combine the high speed of a
traditional ballistic missile with the maneuverability of a cruise missile
making them almost unstoppable with the currently available air defense systems.
There are currently 3 methods being applied to make hypersonic weapons
1. Using a Scramjet engine like the Russian Zircon missile
2. Through the use of Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV). Examples of which are the Chinese
DF-ZF, Russian Avangard and underdevelopment American ARRW
3. Using ALBM or Air-Launched Ballistic missile like the Russian Kinzhal missile
Out of this, the HGVs are thought to be most maneuverable.
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or
Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) have been deployed by the US Navy to counter different kinds of threats.
It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes
providing capability against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles,
anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land, and terminal ballistic missile defense.
It can also be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile.
The missile uses the airframe of the earlier SM-2ER Block IV
(RIM-156A) missile and some targeting elements from AIM-120C AMRAAM.
It can discriminate targets using its dual-mode seeker,
with the semi-active seeker relying on a ship-based illuminator to highlight the target,
and the active seeker having the missile itself sends out an electromagnetic signal.
SM 6 has a max speed of Mach 3.5 and has a 140 lb or 64 kg blast fragmentation warhead.
While the current variants are thought to be effective against hypersonic threats,
the new Block 1B variant is expected to see some major upgrades to propulsion and guidance.
It is expected to be able to reach
hypersonic speed itself and therefore has enhanced performance envelop.
Barbara McQuiston, a senior U.S. official currently performing the duties of the Under
Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering had stated in written testimony, last year,
"MDA [the Missile Defense Agency], in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, demonstrated early capability
against maneuvering threats during flight-testing of the Standard Missile (SM)-6 Sea-Based Terminal
(SBT) defense, and it will further demonstrate this capability against an advanced maneuvering
threat-representative target later this year. We will continue to advance our SBT capability to
address the regional hypersonic threat and will test that capability in the FY 2024 timeframe."
Viewers may note that U.S Navy currently uses Aegis Missile Defense System for missile defense.
The Aegis Missile Defense System is a United States Department of Defense
(DoD), Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short
to intermediate-range ballistic missiles as well as cruise missiles.
Aegis-equipped vessels like Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers to shoot
down enemy missiles in the terminal flight phase by expanding the Aegis Combat System
with the addition of the AN/SPY radar and Standard missile or SM technologies.
The system will likely be integrated with the new variant of SM-6.
The US officials were left stunned when a Financial Times report
revealed that Beijing had tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August last year.
Russia has already fielded Kinzhal and Avangard. The U.S is lagging behind - for example,
in December the U.S Air Force’s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) failed in testing
for the third time running in 2021, not even leaving the wing of the B-52 bomber carrying it.
But when it comes to defense against hypersonic weapons, the U.S seems to be on the right path.