The Missile Defense Agency has contracted Raytheon Technologies to deliver the Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) for the US and Japan.
The $1.9-billion contract covers the manufacture and assembly of the SM-3 in its Block IIA All-Up Round configuration.
Raytheon will facilitate corresponding works at its facilities in Tucson, Arizona, and Huntsville, Alabama.
The project is expected to be completed by February 2031.
The contract follows the US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s bilateral test of new software supporting SM-3 intercept operations against ballistic missiles.
In 2018, the services conducted their first joint flight trial of the weapon at the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii.
The Standard Missile 3
The SM-3 is a surface-to-air system co-developed by the US and Japan for short to intermediate-range anti-ballistic missions.
Alongside maritime applications, the missile is used for anti-satellite and other low-Earth orbit operations.
The SM-3 weighs approximately 1.5 tons and measures 6.55 meters (21.6 feet) in length.
It is powered by multiple solid-fuel engines as well as a divert and attitude control system for a speed of Mach 13.2 or 4.5 kilometers (2.5 miles) per second.
The missile has a maximum flight ceiling of 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) and a range of 1,200 kilometers (746 miles).
Latest US-Japan Missile Projects
In July 2024, the Japanese Ministry of Defense signed a letter of acceptance to acquire Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles – Extended Range (JASSM-ER) from the US.
The request for the JASSM-ER purchase was approved in August 2023. Four months later, Japan bought Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) as well as Sidewinder missiles from the US.
In January 2024, the US announced a contract for the supply of 400 long-range Tomahawk missiles to Japan. This followed Washington’s approval of a $2.35-billion sale of two Tomahawk prototypes to Tokyo in November 2023.
