Rolling Airframe Missile

RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
A RAM being launched from USS New Orleans in 2013.
Type	Close-in weapons system
Place of origin	United States and Germany
Service history
In service	1992–present
Used by	See operators
Production history
Designer	General Dynamics (now Raytheon) / Diehl BGT Defence
Designed	1976
Manufacturer	General Dynamics (now Raytheon) / Diehl BGT Defence
Unit cost	US$998,000 (FY2014)
Produced	1985–present
Variants	See variants
Specifications
Weight	5,777 kg (12,736 lb) (launcher) 73.5 kilograms (162 lb 1 oz) (missile)
Length	2.79 m (9 ft 2 in) (missile)
Warhead	blast fragmentation warhead
Warhead weight	11.3 kg (24 lb 15 oz)
Wingspan	434 mm (17.1 in)
Propellant	solid
Operational range	9 km (5.6 mi)
Speed	In excess of Mach 2 (1,522 mph; 2,450 km/h)
Guidance system	three modes—passive radio frequency/infrared homing, infrared only, or infrared dual mode enabled (radio frequency and infrared homing)
Launch platform	Mk 144 Guided Missile Launcher (GML) of the Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS)

The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the American, German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, and Egyptian navies. It was intended originally and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against antiship cruise missiles. The missile is so-named because it rolls around its longitudinal axis to stabilize its flight path, much like a bullet fired from a rifled barrel. It is, as of 2005^[update], the only U.S. Navy missile to operate in this manner.

The Rolling Airframe Missiles, together with the Mk 49 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) and support equipment, make up the RAM Mk 31 Guided Missile Weapon System (GMWS). The Mk-144 Guided Missile Launcher (GML) unit weighs 5,777 kilograms (12,736 lb) and stores 21 missiles. The original weapon cannot employ its own sensors prior to firing so it must be integrated with a ship's combat system, which directs the launcher at targets. On American ships it is integrated with the AN/SWY-2 Ship Defense Surface Missile System (SDSMS) and Ship Self Defense System (SSDS) Mk 1 or Mk 2 based combat systems. SeaRAM, a RAM launcher variant equipped with independent sensors derived from the Vulcan Phalanx CIWS, is being installed on Littoral Combat Ships and certain Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.