The U.S. Navy has received the 1,000th Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) Block 2, a significant achievement for NATO SEASPARROW, a multinational naval defense program.
The announcement regarding the same was made on November 2, 2026 by the NATO SEASPARROW Program Office (PMX-312).
The program saw acceleration in production since the delivery of the 500th missile last year by the prime contractor Raytheon which built the interceptor for the NATO SEASPARROW Consortium comprising 12 countries.
Though the number of missiles is revealed to the public, the navy has not said how the 1000 missiles would be distributed among the partner countries or how many are presently in service.
The ESSM is a weapon that can be launched from a ship. It is designed to protect naval assets against enemy aircraft, anti-ship cruise missiles and other aerial threats.
It would function as a medium-range defense interceptor that would complement other long-range air defense systems.
A prominent characteristic of the ESSM is that it can be ‘quad-packed’ into the Mk 41 Vertical Launching System
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