Raytheon RIM-161 Standard SM-3

The SM-3 (Standard Missile 3) is a derivative of the RIM-156 Standard SM-2ER Block IV, and is the missile component of the U.S. Navy's Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (ABMD) System, orignally started as NTW-TBMD (Navy Theater Wide - Theater Ballistic Missile Defense). It is an upper-tier ballistic missile defense weapon, originally planned to complement the lower-tier SM-2ER Block IV A, but the latter has been cancelled in December 2001. For terminal ballistic missile defense, ABMD now uses the RIM-174 SM-6 missile.

The SM-3 missile, designated RIM-161A, uses the basic SM-2ER Block IV A airframe and propulsion, and adds a third stage rocket motor (a.k.a. Advanced Solid Axial Starge, ASAS, made by Alliant Techsystems), a GPS/INS guidance section (a.k.a. GAINS, GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System), and a LEAP (Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile) kinetic warhead (i.e. a non-explosive hit-to-kill warhead). The launching ships are updated with Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) computer soft- and hardware.

Image: Raytheon

RIM-161A

The LEAP uses a FLIR (Forward-Looking Infrared) sensor to locate its target, and was tested in a 4-flight series called Terrier/LEAP from 1992 to 1995. These tests used modified Terrier and Standard SM-2 missiles. Two intercepts were attempted during these tests, but the LEAP failed to hit the target in both cases. The first flight-test of an RIM-161A SM-3 missile occurred in September 1999, and the third test (in January 2001) demonstrated successful missile flight and control up to fourth stage (i.e. kinetic warhead) separation. In January 2002, the first all-up test of an RIM-161A succeeded in hitting an Aries ballistic target missile.

Photo: DOD

RIM-161A

Not all the early flight tests have been successful. The kill vehicle's SDACS (Solid Divert and Attitude Control System) malfunctioned on flight "FM-5" on 18 June 2003, which tested the SDACS for the first time in a realistic scenario. Flight "FM-6" in December 2003 successfully intercepted its target, but the SM-3 program was nevertheless significantly delayed. Test "FM-7" has been postponed several times, but has eventually been conducted successfully on 24 February 2005. This test used an RIM-161A missile in the standard operational configuration.

By mid-2006, SM-3 tests were flown at regular intervals. A successful interception test on 22 June 2006 used the Block IA configuration of the missile, designated RIM-161B. The RIM-161B features upgrades to the rocket motor and the guidance & control software for increased overall performance. It also includes producibility and maintainability design changes.

Image: Missile Defense Agency

SM-3 family

The RIM-161C Block IB missile has a kill vehicle with a two-color IR seeker and a new Throttleable Divert and Attitude Control System (TDACS), for higher effectiveness against maneuvering ballistic missiles and warheads. It became operational with the U.S. Navy in 2014.

Around 2009, development of the the significantly modified SM-3 Block II started as a joint effort by Raytheon and the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The missile shares only the first-stage booster with the Block I variants, and has larger 53.3 cm (21 in) diameter 2nd and 3rd stages. This gives the Block II a significantly increased kinematic envelope, allowing interceptions at higher altitudes and ranges. The kill vehicle is also enlarged, and features improved target acquisition, discrimination and tracking capabilities. The first Block II production variant is the RIM-161D SM-3 Block IIA. It was first flight-tested in 2015, and scored a success on its first intercept test in 2017. Raytheon reached full-rate production of the RIM-161D in October 2024.

Photo: U.S. Navy

RIM-161D

The original plans for the SM-3 Block II also included a Block IIB version, with a still larger (68 cm (27 in) diameter) missile body for further enhanced performance and a light-weight kill vehicle. However, the Block IIB program was cancelled in 2013.

The SM-3 missile can also be used with land-bases ballistic missile defense systems (called "Aegis Ashore"), and as such is deployed in Poland and Romania.

Specifications

Note: Data given by several sources show slight variations. Figures given below may therefore be inaccurate!

Data for RIM-161A/B/C/D:

Main Sources

[1] Norman Friedman: "World Naval Weapons Systems, 1997/98", Naval Institute Press, 1997
[2] "Vision... Presence... Power, A Program Guide to The U.S. Navy", 2000 Edition
[3] Raytheon Website
[4] Various web resources, referenced by Wikipedia: RIM-161 Standard Missile 3

Back to Current Designations Of U.S. Unmanned Military Aerospace Vehicles
Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles

---

Last Updated: 23 December 2024