Australia to procure SM-2, SM-6 missiles in AUD7 billion deal

HMAS Sydney seen here firing the Royal Australian Navy's first SM-6 during Exercise ‘Pacific Dragon' 2024. (Commonwealth of Australia)

Canberra is acquiring the Standard Missile-2 Block IIIC (SM-2 IIIC) and Standard Missile‑6 (SM-6) effectors under an AUD7 billion (USD4.6 billion) agreement with the United States.

The missiles will be deployed across the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) Hobart-class destroyers and future fleet of Hunter-class frigates, Australia's Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy announced in a joint statement on 22 October.

“The acquisition of the Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC (SM-2 IIIC) and Standard Missile‑6 (SM-6) is a significant milestone in the government's rapid progress in boosting the long-range capability of [the] navy's surface combatant fleet,” the statement said.

“The SM-2 IIIC and SM-6 complement existing capabilities such as ESSM [Evolved SeaSparrow Missile] Block 2 and Naval Strike Missile as part of a layered strike and missile defence capability for [the] navy's surface combatant fleet,” the statement added.

In August the RAN's third Hobart-class destroyer Sydney carried out a first-of-class firing of the SM-6.

It was fired as part of Exercise ‘Pacific Dragon' 2024 in the vicinity of Hawaii, the Australian Department of Defence disclosed in a 10 August statement without revealing the exact date of the event.

With the firing, Australia became only the second country to have fired the SM-6 missile other than the United States.

The SM-6 is a 6.55 m anti-air missile that can also undertake anti-surface warfare and ballistic missile defence operations.

It has a launch weight of about 1,500 kg and can attain a top speed of Mach 3 with an estimated maximum range of about 370 km.