Navy tests SM-6 missile against low-flying target

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy's new Standard Missile-6 has demonstrated its capability to intercept low-altitude, slow-moving targets in a cluttered environment.

Testing of the Raytheon-made surface-to-air missile was part of a series of follow on test and evaluation events for the weapon, which obtained operational status last year following seven years of development.

"This event demonstrated SM-6's ability to detect and engage a slow moving target in the presence of complex land clutter," said Jim Schuh, anti-air warfare missiles technical director at the Johns Hopkins University applied physics lab, which is among the Navy's SM-6 partners. "It is another victory for this very versatile weapon."

The SM-6 provides an over-the-horizon target engagement weapon when launched from an Aegis warship.

Follow-on operational test and evaluation events are expected to be completed by mid-2016.

Neither Raytheon nor the U.S. Navy provided additional information of the latest test of the weapon, which features advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities.