Raytheon has received a $55.47 million contract amendment in addition to options worth up to $22.76 million from Naval Sea Systems Command to support FY2021-FY2023 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2 full-rate production requirements.

Under the contract, the company will supply additional parts for the fiscal year 2023.

“This contract combines purchases for the US Navy and the governments of Canada, Australia, Greece, Germany, Norway, Turkey, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Denmark under the NATO Seasparrow Consortium,” the Department of Defence noted.

Works will be completed by March 2025 at sites in Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, and the US.

The ESSM system entered service in 2004 and the Block 2 anti-aircraft missile, which is being developed, will have a range in excess of 50 km.

In addition, it will be equipped with a new guidance system with active and semi-active radar which, unlike Block 1, will support target engagement in the terminal phase without being detected by the radars of the warship that launched it. The first firing test of ESSM Block 2 was successfully carried out in 2018.

Currently, the ESSM (Block 1) missile in the arsenal of the Hellenic Navy is carried by MEKO-type frigates. The older “S” type frigates carry the Sea Sparrow RIM-7 missile with no vertical launch capabilities.

Also read: Lockheed Martin | Full-rate production decision for Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)