The Times: USA Used SM-6 Missiles to Shoot Down Shahed Drones

To fight off attacks by Iranian Shahed drones on countries in the Persian Gulf, the US used SM-6 ship-launched anti-aircraft missiles.

The Times reported this in an article.

There were also instances of multiple missiles being launched from Patriot ground-based systems at a single target.

For example, in May 2025, the US approved the sale of 788 PAC-2 Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical (GEM-T) missiles for the Patriot air defense system, worth $5.8 billion. That is, the price per missile is $7–8 million.

Moreover, the region’s own air defense systems were unable to cope with the strikes, resulting in damage to the $1 billion American AN/FPS-132 early warning radar, as well as at least one THAAD radar.

SM-6

The Standard Missile 6 is a two-stage over-the-horizon surface-to-air missile developed and manufactured by the American company Raytheon.

The missile can operate without target-tracking radars on the launch vessel and can engage targets beyond the horizon or over terrain features. These new capabilities are made possible by the use of an active radar homing seeker (ARHS) derived from the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile.

During the cruise phase, the missile is guided by an inertial navigation system with the ability to correct its course based on commands from the carrier ship, and during the terminal phase of flight, it activates the AHSN and performs precise guidance to the target. Thanks to this system, the missile can intercept targets with a direct hit.

Thanks to the use of a powerful Mk.72 booster and a new rocket engine, the SM-6 is capable of intercepting targets at ranges of up to 240 km and altitudes of up to 33 kilometers.

The missile is equipped with a Mk.125 directional fragmentation warhead developed by Aerojet Rocketdyne.

In addition to engaging air targets, the SM-6 missiles also have a mode for engaging ground and surface targets at ranges of up to 400 kilometers.

Last year, Japan ordered 150 SM-6 missiles from the US, along with related equipment, for $900 million, suggesting a per-missile price of $5–6 million.