Raytheon's Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) destroyed a high-diving, supersonic threat during a recent firing from the U.S. Navy's Self-Defense Test Ship.

"The success of this firing, highlighted by a skin-to-skin intercept, is a direct result of a series of enhancements to what is truly an international missile," said Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Naval and Area Mission Defense product line.

"Thanks to our multinational team's commitment to continuous improvement, each consortium member gains valuable protection for their fleets based on ESSM's interoperability with a wide range of combat systems."

ESSM provides critical layered defense by delivering protecting firepower against high-G maneuvering anti-ship cruise missiles, supersonic high-diving threats and low-velocity air threats, as well as surface targets.

Recently, ESSM was successfully launched from a ground-based system, demonstrating that the missile's performance over ground matches that over water. Significantly, no software changes were required to prove the ESSM's enhanced capability.

With 18 industrial partners representing 10 nations, ESSM is the world's premier international cooperative missile production program. ESSM is a key component of Raytheon's portfolio of products that provide a global layered defense capability to meet the needs of diverse platforms, combat system design and theaters of operation.

Expansion to Ground-based Air Defense
Raytheon, along with a global industrial partnership, has introduced an initiative that expands the ESSM's original mission from sea-based to ground-based air defense. This application builds on the proven capabilities of the ship-based application by providing the same air defense capability against the full-threat spectrum, including aircraft, high- and low-velocity air threats, and high-divers.

ESSM Contribution to Warfighters
+ Capabilities bridging the gap between close-in air defense and local area defense systems.

+ Kinematics resulting in reduced time to target.

+ Multimission weapon system effectiveness against high-speed or low-velocity threats.