The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is the most cutting-edge method of ship self-defense currently available.
A supersonic lightweight quick reaction fire and forget weapon, The Rolling Airframe Missile (Ram) is designed to destroy anti-ship missiles.
Its passive radio frequency and infrared diamond design require no additional Direction upon launch and allow High Firepower to engage multiple threads simultaneously.
According to Raytheon, the RAM has been fired in more than 300 test flights with a 95 success rate. It is currently being used on over 165 ships across 11 countries, ranging in size from 500-ton fast attack craft to 100,000-ton aircraft carriers.
The RAM Mark 31 guided missile weapon system consists of Rolling Airframe Missiles, the MK 49 guided missile launching system, and various pieces of equipment.
The mark 144 guided missile launcher unit weighs 12 736 pounds and stores 21 missiles. The RIM 116 missile is fully operational in the U.S. and German navies, with more than 3 400 missiles and 180 launchers deployed.
It’s installed on the majority Of new U.S. Navy ship classes, including the WASP class amphibious assault ships, America class amphibious assault chips, Gerald R Ford-class aircraft carriers, San Antonio class, Whidbey Island-class dock Landing ships, amphibious transport dock ships, Harper’s Ferry class dock Landing ships, and littoral combat ships.
Agreements with Denmark and West Germany in July 1976 led to the development of General Dynamics’ Pomona and Valley systems divisions’ RIM 116. After some time, Hughes Aircraft purchased the missile business of General Dynamics, which is now a division of Raytheon. The U.S. Navy took over after Denmark quit the program.
Destroyer USS David R. Ray tested the mark 49 launcher in the late 1980s. The first 30 missiles were manufactured during the fiscal year 1985 and were initially put into service on November 14, 1992, aboard the USS Peleliu.
VARIANTS OF RIM-116
There are three Rim 116 variants, including Block 0 RIM 116A, Block 1 RIM 116B, and Block 2 RIM 116C.
The rocket motor fuse and Warhead from the AIM 9 Sidewinder Air-to-Air missile were used in the first version of Block 0.
Block 0 missiles were made to first home in on radiation from a target, like an incoming anti-ship missile’s active radar, and then switch to an infrared seeker from the Stinger missile for final guidance.
Block 1 is an improved version of The RAM missile. It has an infrared-only guidance system that lets it stop missiles that don’t send out radar signals.
The latest improvement to the ram missile is the Block 2 variant, which has a bigger rocket motor, a more advanced Control section, and a better radio frequency receiver that can pick up even the quietest threat emitter.
Because of the changes, The missile becomes two-and-a-half times more maneuverable and one-and-a-half-times greater intercept range.
This gives the Block 2 variant the ability to defeat High-stress threats, increasing the survivability of the protected vessel.
Block 2 of RAM was explicitly developed to counteract modern anti-ship cruise missiles. It also protects against airborne threats, such as helicopters. It can interact with two threads at once because of its clever dual-mode guidance layout.
RAM has been protecting naval ships for 30 years, and the enhanced Block 2 versions will protect our warfighters well into the future, said Rick Nelson, vice president of Naval area and Mission defense for Raytheon Missile Systems.
The U.S. Navy’s Declaration of initial operational capability is a significant accomplishment that shows RAM Block 2 is ideally suited to protect against various platforms’ full range of threats.
The Navy tested Block 2 after receiving it in July 2014. Raytheon claims that the system was the first ship-based fire system to defeat the supersonic Maneuvering raid in two tests.
RAM, a 40-year U.S.-German cooperative venture, saved taxpayers over 800 million dollars and produced one of the world’s most capable anti-ship cruise missile defense systems.
SEA RAM Weapon system
The PHALANX (Sea Whiz) Mark 15 block 1B’s radar and Electro-Optical system are integrated into the SEARAM’s 11-cell Ram launcher to create a fully autonomous system.
One that can deal with potential dangers independently of any outside data. The SeaRam, like the Phalanx, is adaptable to any vessel.
SeaRam has the same shipboard installation footprint as the Phalanx because of its conventional mounting. Same power and minimal shipboard alteration.
In 2008 the first cram system was delivered to be installed on the USS Independence. As of December 2013, one cram was fitted to each Independence-class vessel.
Late in 2014, the United States Navy announced that it had decided to fit its upcoming small surface combatant LCS follow-on ships with seaRAM.
The Ship Self-Defense and Extended Keep-Out Range Capabilities (SEARAM) are meant to improve a ship’s ability to defend itself in adverse combat circumstances.
It lets naval ships deal with high-performance supersonic and subsonic threats, such as sea-skimming, anti-ship missiles, fast-approaching ships, rotary and fixed-wing aircraft helicopters, and other surface targets.
