The US Navy (USN) has contracted with Raytheon Missiles and Defense for a second buy of new-production Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) anti-air missiles for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers.
Awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) on 17 December, the USD578.3 million fiscal year (FY) 2021 contract includes SM-2 Block IIIA/IIIB all-up-rounds (AURs) for Chile, Denmark, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Spain, and Taiwan. The contract, which could increase to USD586.8 million if an option is exercised, follows on from a USD8.5 million contract awarded in January 2021 for the procurement of long lead material.
While the USN ceased procurement of new-build SM-2 missiles after its FY 2011 buy, Raytheon has recommenced production of SM-2 Block IIIA and Block IIIB AURs to meet continued international demand. A first contract, awarded by NAVSEA in June 2017, covered SM-2 full-rate production requirements and spares for US and allied foreign navies, including the production of 280 SM-2 Block IIIA/IIIB missiles to meet the needs of Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and South Korea.
According to a contract award notice published by the USN on 21 December, the latest contract covers the procurement of SM-2 production requirements including AURs – each consisting of a guidance section, autopilot battery unit, warhead, target detection device, rocket motor, safe and arm device, fuze booster, dorsal fin set, and steering control section – instrumentation kits, engineering services, and spares. Broken down by value, the contract aggregates offtake for the Republic of Korea (USD231.7 million [40%]), Denmark (USD98 million [17%]), Taiwan (USD57.6 million [10%]); the Netherlands (USD53 million [9%]), Spain (USD50.2 million [9%]), Chile (USD33 million [5%]); and Japan (USD10.8 million [2%]).
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