According to a tweet published by Ryan Chan on February 15, 2022, the US Navy San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage (LPD-23) fires a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile during a live-fire exercise in the Pacific Ocean.
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RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (Picture source: U.S. Navy)
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, and U.S. Navies. It was intended originally and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship cruise missiles.
As its name indicates, RAM rolls as it flies. The missile must roll during flight because the RF tracking system uses a two-antenna interferometer that can measure phase interference of the electromagnetic wave in one plane only.
The rolling interferometer permits the antennas to look at all planes of incoming energy. In addition, because the missile rolls, only one pair of steering canards is required. As of 2005, it is the only U.S. Navy missile to operate in this manner.
The RIM-116 Missile has a length of 2.8 meters, a diameter of 127 millimeters, and a weight of 74 kg.
