Global demand sparks Standard Missile-2 production restart

Four international customers pool funds for $650 million bundle buy

 

Due to global demand, Raytheon Company has restarted its Standard Missile-2 production line to meet the needs of four international customers who aligned requirements and pooled resources to make a 'bundle' purchase through foreign military sales. 

 

The Netherlands, Japan, Australia and South Korea are purchasing SM-2 under this new contact.  The missile defends navies against anti-ship missiles and aircraft out to 90 nautical miles and an altitude of 65,000 feet. SM-2 has an extensive flight test history with more than 2,700 successful live firings. 

 

"For many of our allies, SM-2 is the backbone of their fleet defense, but in 2013, we simply didn't have the international orders necessary to keep the production line going," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems. "That's changed now, and we'll continue producing SM-2s well beyond 2035."

 

New deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2020 and will include more than 280 SM-2 Block IIIA and IIIB missiles. Raytheon and the U.S. Navy are using the restart as an opportunity to modernize production and testing processes inside the SM-2 factory. 

 

SM-2 international customers include: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Spain and Taiwan.