"Raytheon Company successfully tested a hot fire rocket motor for DARPA's Multi-Azimuth Defense Fast Intercept Round Engagement System, or MAD-FIRES", the release said on Monday.
The MAD-FIRES interceptor is designed to provide a robust and affordable self-defence capability that defeats multiple waves of anti-ship missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as other threats, Raytheon said.
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"The Navy is asking for leading-edge capabilities that can take out rapidly approaching targets, and Raytheon's interceptor for the MAD-FIRES program will deliver", Raytheon Advanced Missile Systems Vice President Thomas Bussing said in the release.
Marine Corps Commandant General Robert Neller said in an interview published in February that a revised military doctrine by the US Marine Corps is calling for deployment of long-range anti-ship missiles to protect temporary bases on land seized by expeditionary units. The Marine Corps has been refreshing its doctrine, and fielding a long-range anti-ship missile would allow Marines to protect islands or pockets of beaches that are seized as temporary naval bases, Neller said in February.
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