USS America takes out drone with ‘fire-and-forget’ missile near Okinawa
By JONATHAN SNYDER
STARS AND STRIPES • January 26, 2023
The USS America “detected, tracked and engaged a target” with an RIM-116 rolling airframe missile this week in the Philippine Sea, an exercise the Navy says was aimed at keeping the amphibious assault ship’s crew ready for warfighting.
The RIM-116 is a low-cost, lightweight, quick-reaction, “fire-and-forget” weapon designed to destroy anti-ship cruise missiles and other air and surface threats, according to the Navy’s website.
"The missile was launched at an incoming drone meant to simulate an anti-ship cruise missile to test the ship's surface-to-air defense systems and reinforce the crew's warfighting readiness,” the ship’s spokesman, Lt. Beau Nickerson, told Stars and Stripes by email Thursday.
Only one missile was fired during Tuesday’s exercise, which took place “in the vicinity of Okinawa,” he added.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2023-01-26/uss-america-drone-missile-okinawa-8892877.html
