Raytheon [RTN] delivered its first Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher to Mexico this week and saw its Standard Missile-2 destroy aerial test threats in summer South Korean exercises, the company said Tuesday.
The RAM delivery is the first to any Latin American country and is part of Mexico’s long-range off-shore patrol (POLA in Spanish) vessel program.
The POLA vessel, the future ARM Reformador (F101), is based on Damen Shipyards SIGMA 10514-class frigate and is planned to be delivered and commissioned in 2020.
Mexico will use the RAM Block 2 missile to protect the F101 from anti-ship missiles. Raytheon noted the newest RAM Block 2 version features a larger rocket motor, an advanced control section and an enhanced radio frequency receiver.
In January the State Department approved a $98.4 million sale to Mexico for six RGM-94L Harpoon Block III surface launched missiles, 23 Block II RAM tactical missiles, and six MK54 Mod 0 lightweight torpedoes (Defense Daily, January 5).
“With RAM protecting its frigate, Mexico not only enhances its maritime posture, but they also expand their naval support of national security and defense of critical sea lanes,” Mitch Stevison, Raytheon vice president for air and missile defense systems, said in a statement.
The RAM is currently deployed on over 165 ships in eight countries.
Separately, Raytheon revealed that over the summer the South Korean navy conducted five test flights of its SM-2 surface-to-air missile. First, two SM-2 Block IIIA missiles were fired to test its semi-active radar seeking technology.
In a second exercise, three SM-2 Block IIIB missiles destroyed three aerial targets.
The SM-2 missiles are used for air and cruise missile defense with Aegis-enabled ships. Block III missiles use a blast-fragmentation warhead with a radar and contact fuse.
The Block IIIA variant first entered service in 1991 and extended the range of the interceptor to lower altitudes. The Block IIIB variant entered into service in 1998 and included an infrared guidance system to complement its radio frequency terminal homing system.
Raytheon ended its SM-2 production line in 2013 when international orders fell too much to keep it open. It re-started production in 2017 in response to a $650 million bundle purchase order by Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea. Deliveries on the 280 missiles are set to begin in 2020 (Defense Daily, June 23, 2017).