A rolling-airframe missile (RAM), fitted with the newly designed Block 1 seeker, achieved a direct hit on the wingtip-mounted infra-red source of a BQM-34 target drone during the weapon's first flight test, conducted at the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on 1 February.
The RAM Block 1 seeker configuration includes an improved guidance package and an infra-red seeker and signal processor. It is also fitted with a more-capable proximity fuse.
The weapon is a quick-reaction, ship-launched anti-ship missile system which has been developed and produced by Hughes Missile Systems, a German industrial consortium called RAMSYS, and the US Navy.
The Block 1 RAM is scheduled to receive full production funding from the US Department of Defense in fiscal year 1999.
Source: Flight International