[The Drive] The U.S. Navy has revealed that it recently demonstrated a road-mobile ground-based launching system for multi-purpose SM-6 missiles at an as-yet undisclosed location in Europe. The containerized launcher module, in this case loaded onto a tractor-trailer, is all but certainly the same type, or a variant thereof, as the one that was installed on the unmanned test ship Ranger for a live-fire test last year. This launcher system is also set to be a component of the U.S. Army's future Typhon system, which is expected to be able to fire SM-6s, as well as Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.
Photographs of what the Navy described as a "modular SM-6 launcher system" appeared on official social media accounts belonging to the service's Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet (NAVFOREUR-AF/Sixth Fleet) earlier today.
"U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. Sixth Fleet personnel conducted convoy protection rehearsals with a U.S. Navy modular SM-6 launcher system within the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility on Sunday," according to the post on NAVFOREUR-AF/Sixth Fleet's Facebook page. "This U.S. Navy capability enables rapid defense of the maritime domain."
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