Video

Video by Seaman Casey Hopkins

USS Mason (DDG 87) MISSLEX

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)

March 15, 2016 | 3:22

A 1500 lb. Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) leaps from the guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) at twice the speed of sound on its way to destroying an advanced high-speed target during a live fire test of the ship's Aegis weapons system. The live fire event was conducted during the EISENHOWER Strike Group Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX), the final certification event prior to deployment. As the world's premier fleet-area air defense weapon, SM-2 is an integral part of the layered defense that protects the world's naval assets and gives warfighters a greater reach in the battlespace. SM-2 variants have successfully intercepted targets and are lethal against subsonic, supersonic, low- and high-altitude, high-maneuvering, diving, sea-skimming, anti-ship cruise missiles fighters, bombers and helicopters in an advanced electronic countermeasures environment. SM-2 has an extensive area and self-defense flight test history with more than 2,650 successful flight tests from domestic and international ships. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist Casey Hopkins/Released)