Supersonic AShM VS. Subsonic AShM
- Thread starter big toothbrush
- Start date
The USN does have a supersonic ASM capable missle-the SM-2. People always forget that it can target ships as well as missles and planes.
so, once SM-3 comes in, SM-2 will still be retained for AshM or is it going to be replaced by something else?Sea Dog said:SM-3 is not going to be for anything but ballistic missiles. SM-6 ERAM will apparently have it as ASM capable as a secondary function, as I've recently learned. SM-2 range as ASM is....good enough.
oringo
Junior Member
Just how effective is SM-2 against surface targets? Do you need to change the payload and/or sensor prior to launch? If not, how do you expect a warhead that is designed to intercept an airplane to do much damage to a 5000t ship? Am I the only one who thinks this is nonsense?
tphuang said:
SM-3 will only go on a few (specific) AEGIS ships. SM-2 and SM-6 ERAM will both be embarked on everybody. In addition to ESSM and/or SeaRam.
oringo said:
Any projectile of that size with that kind of kinetic energy is destructive. And SM-2 has a decent sized warhead for a SAM. Obviously, it's not as potent as an SS-N-22 Sunburn, and is truly only used in this way only as a secondary option. But it does indeed work, and is plenty useful in this secondary role.
oringo said:
The fact that they are SAMs primarily gives them high survivability (good accuracy, high speed, small size). Thus they will probably hit. And if several are fired, they will do a lot of damage. As Sea Dog said, they will do a lot of damage just with kinetic energy and their small payload, and if several hit that is multiplied. Also, they is a chance they will hit something critical, like the bridge, or disable a radar, or hit a cell of ASMs. So the SM-2 is a good anti-ship missle if fired in multiple numbers.
sea dog said:
I have never heard about the SM-6 ERAM. How new is it? Can anyone tell me about it?
Finn McCool said:
It will be the newest missile in the Standard Missile family. Under development right now. It will add an extended range booster to an active seeker. Fully autonomous against multiple threats.....primarily cruise missile threats at great ranges (500-600Km). Direct link to AEW units and will be tied into multiple network links for direct long-range engagements.
Here's a basic overview from Raytheon: (.pdf document)
What flight profile does the SM-2 take though? How will they fight through CIWS attacks? Finn was right though. If that missile comes diving down, (I guess that's the case, The Japanese have used SM-2s as ASMs before, as you can see on youtube.) it'd probably hit the bridge/radars dead on, which means that ship is pretty much out of operation.