The RIM-113 Shipboard Intermediate Range Combat System, or SIRCS, was an advanced

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

proposed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the 1970s. The project failed to be approved for funding and was cancelled in 1979.

Concept

The United States Navy

Naval Surface Weapons Center * A Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the ...

began the development of an advanced surface-to-air missile for defense against

cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhe ...

attack in 1976.DOD 4120.15-L (2004), p.95. Based on the previous Anti-Ship Missile Defense (ASMD) studies and known as the Shipboard Intermediate Range Combat System, the new missile was intended as a replacement for the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow as the standard point-defense weapon for U.S. Navy ships,Parsch 2002 with the specification calling for the capability to engage between four and fourteen independent targets at once, depending on the size of the launching ship.Dornan 1979, p.238.

Development and cancellation

The designation XRIM-113A, indicating an experimental ship-launched interceptor missile, was allocated to the SIRCS project in May 1976, and contracts were awarded to three separate teams of contractors - RCA/

Martin-Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Marie ...

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: *Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County *Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County *Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana *Sperry Glacier, ...

, and Raytheon/ Lockheed/ Univac - for initial studies of the SIRCS missile concept, in anticipation of a competitive evaluation. By 1978, the study phase of development was completed. The McDonnell Douglas/Sperry team had examined the use of the

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marconi ...

Sea Wolf missile, which failed to meet the full specification, but was the only existing missile that approached the SIRCS requirements. Sea Wolf was anticipated to be able to enter service in 1979 if selected as a worthwhile basis for the further development; a newly designed missile would push the expected in-service date to 1983. However, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

refused to allocate funding for the further development of the RIM-113 missile. A proposal was made for joint development of SIRCS with the U.S. Air Force's AMRAAM project;, but this came to naught, and the RIM-113 was cancelled in 1979.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{US missiles Naval surface-to-air missiles of the United States Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States