Missile RIM-162 ESSM

The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) is a ship-launched surface-to-air weapon derived in name from the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, developed to counter supersonic manoeuvring anti-ship missiles as well as aircraft. Where the original Sea Sparrow was an adaptation of the AIM-7 air-to-air missile, the ESSM emerged as an entirely new weapon retaining compatibility with the support equipment of the earlier system, allowing installation on ships already fitted with the older missile. Development of the air-to-air Sparrow line ended in the 1990s in favour of the AIM-120 AMRAAM, leaving the naval variant as the sole continuation of the platform. Planning for a Block 2 variant began in the 2000s under the NATO Seasparrow Project Office; Canada committed CA$200 million in 2014 toward its share of development costs.

The missile uses a larger rocket motor than the Sea Sparrow, giving increased range and agility, and revised aerodynamics employing strakes and skid-to-turn control. Guidance variants exist for Aegis/AN/SPY-1, Sewaco/Active Phased Array Radar (APAR), and conventional all-the-way target illumination. Block 2 retains the Block 1 rocket motor and adds a dual-mode X-band seeker, increased manoeuvrability, and a revised blast-fragmentation warhead. Its communications suite permits mid-course guidance correction and integration with the Cooperative Engagement Capability, and its active radar homing seeker allows terminal engagement without illumination from the launching ship's radars. Block 2 entered US Navy service from 2020.

The ESSM is fired from the Mk 29 trainable eight-cell launcher, the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System, the Mk 48 VLS, the Mk 56 GMVLS, and the Mk 57 Peripheral VLS of the Zumwalt class. In the Mk 41 it is quad-packed, with four rounds per cell. Mk 48 canisters accept two ESSM rounds each, with the Mod 3 variant fitted to Royal Danish Navy StanFlex modules housing twelve. The ESSM rocket motor is also used in the AMRAAM-ER, combining it with the AIM-120 seeker head for the NASAMS ground-based system.

US operational evaluation took place in July 2002 aboard USS Shoup. In October 2003 the Australian frigate HMAS Warramunga fired an ESSM at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, the first operational use of CEA Technologies continuous wave illumination. In November 2003 the Royal Netherlands Navy frigate HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën conducted the first live firing in which a full-size shipborne active electronically scanned array guided a missile using Interrupted Continuous Wave Illumination. A German Sachsen-class frigate fired eleven ESSMs at Point Mugu in August 2004 against BQM-74E, BQM-34S, AQM-37C and Kormoran 1 targets. Further firings by De Zeven Provinciën followed in March 2005. The first kill by an RIM-162D from a US carrier's Mk 29 launcher was achieved by USS John C. Stennis on 7 October 2008. On 14 May 2013 the missile intercepted a high-diving supersonic test target. On 30 August 2015 HTMS Naresuan destroyed a BQM-74E drone during the CARAT exercise. On 9 October 2016 USS Mason fired one ESSM and two SM-2s against Houthi anti-ship cruise missiles in the Red Sea, the first combat use of the type. Block 2 passed its first live-fire test in 2018.

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