U.S. Military Hits Sea Target with SM-6 Missile

The U.S. military sank a target at sea using a long-range surface-to-air missile, the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), launched from the Typhon ground-based missile system.

The firing took place on July 15 during Exercise Talisman Sabre 25 in Australia, The War Zone reports.

For the first time, the U.S. Army has conducted a live-fire exercise with its Typhon ground-based missile system outside of the continental United States. The system is also capable of launching Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Using the Typhon against a maritime target demonstrates an important capability for the system.

“The SM-6 is primarily an air defense weapon, but as integrated on Typhon, is intended to be employed mainly against targets ashore and at sea, essentially as a short-range ballistic missile,” the media noted.

The Army also envisions Typhon as a “strategic” weapon system that can be used against higher-value targets, such as air defense assets and command and control nodes.

“The deployment of the MRC and successful execution of an SM-6 live-fire against a maritime target is another significant step forward in our ability to deploy, integrate, and command and control advanced land-based maritime strike capabilities,” Col. Wade Germann, commander of the 3rd MDTF, stated in an Army press release.

A complete Typhon battery consists of four launchers, a trailer-based mobile command post, and other ancillary vehicles and equipment, according to information previously released by the Army.

Ahead of any permanent basing of the systems in the region, successive deployments of Typhon to the Indo-Pacific region demonstrate the Army’s ability to more rapidly deploy these systems to forward areas in response to a crisis or contingency.

MRC Typhon

The Mk70 launchers of the MRC Typhon missile system are an evolution of the Mk41 ship-based vertical launch systems, adapted for ground launches.

Thanks to their dimensions, which match those of a standard 40-foot shipping container, they can be transported by regular trucks.

Each launcher contains four cells that can accommodate existing types of ship-launched missiles: subsonic Tomahawk cruise missiles for striking ground targets, or long-range SM-6 surface-to-air missiles capable of intercepting aerial and ballistic threats, as well as engaging land and surface targets.