RIM-85 was a short-lived project 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 ...

to develop a

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 ...

for the defense of naval vessels. Developed during the late 1960s, the project was cancelled before the start of detailed design work.

Development and cancellation

During the 1960s, the United States Navy identified a requirement for a new type of surface-to-air missile, capable of defending ships against attack by enemy aircraft and missiles.Parsch 2002 The resulting specification called for a medium-range missile, capable of being used in all weather conditions;Morison and Rowe 1975, p.216. in addition to its air defense role, the missile was intended to possess a secondary capability in the surface-to-surface mission for use against enemy ships. In July 1968, the project was assigned the Mission Designation System designation ZRIM-85A, the "Z" indicating a project in the planning stage;Parsch 2009 however, the program was cancelled later that year, before any significant design work on the missile, or any development of hardware, had been conducted.

References

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External links

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