On April 14, 2024, Arleigh Burke-class missile destroyers deployed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors for the first time to counter an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Israel. This operation, conducted in the Eastern Mediterranean, involved the USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51) and USS Carney (DDG-64), which fired between four and seven SM-3s to intercept the Iranian ballistic missiles. This marks the first combat use of the SM-3 interceptors, as confirmed by defense sector sources. Read full Defense news.
 |
| A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1B interceptor missile is launched from the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) during a Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy test in the mid-Pacific in 2013 (Picture source: Raytheon/US DoD) |