Strike Group launches SM-2

ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 15, 2016) The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Roosevelt (DDG 80), USS Nitze (DDG 94), USS Stout (DDG 55), USS Mason (DDG 87), along with Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS San Jacinto (CG 56) and USS Monterey (CG 61) launch Standard Missiles 2 (SM-2) at twice the speed of sound to destroy an advanced high-speed target during a live fire test of the ship's Aegis weapons system. The live fire event was conducted during the Eisenhower Strike Group Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), the final certification event prior to deployment. As the world's premier fleet-area air defense weapon, SM-2 is an integral part of the layered defense that protects the world's naval assets and gives warfighters a greater reach in the battlespace. SM-2 variants have successfully intercepted targets and are lethal against subsonic, supersonic, low- and high-altitude, high-maneuvering, diving, sea-skimming, anti-ship cruise missiles fighters, bombers and helicopters in an advanced electronic countermeasures environment. SM-2 has an extensive area and self-defense flight test history with more than 2,650 successful flight tests from domestic and international ships. (U.S. Navy video/Released)