SM-6
Standard Missile 6
The Navy's do-everything missile: aircraft, cruise missiles, ships, and ballistic missiles in their final seconds.
Launched from: Aegis destroyers and cruisers · ~$5.3M each
68–84% of ~1,160 before the war · as of Apr 8, 2026
At the opening campaign's pace (~7/day) that's 110–135 days of fire with no resupply.
In blocks of 10
left within the estimate's range used since Feb 28
Rebuild model
How fast does the stockpile come back? This projects it forward from the deliveries already in the pipeline and the FY2027 rebuild order, using the budget's own schedules. Move the sliders to test faster production or a renewed war.
Starts from the newest estimate (Apr 8, 2026) and assumes no firing after it unless you add a renewed war. Fighting has continued at lower intensity since July 8, so treat projections from older estimates as optimistic. The default firing rate is the opening campaign's average: ~7 a day over 39 days.
Table view
| Date | Low estimate | High estimate |
|---|
Every estimate
| As of | Claim | Source | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 2026 | StatementQuote“about one-third of the initial inventory for the rest (JASSM, SM-2/3/6, and Tomahawk)” | CSIS Jul 31, 2026 | Estimate |
| May 27, 2026 | Statement Per CNN, citing DoD sources Quote“A CNN report citing DOD sources indicated that actual Standard Missile usage in Operation Epic Fury was closer to the lower-bound estimates in the CSIS munitions inventory study” | CSIS May 27, 2026 | Reported |
| Apr 8, 2026 | 190–370 usedQuote“SM-6 $5.3 1,160 190–370 53” Table 1 row. | CSIS Apr 21, 2026 | Estimate |
| Feb 28, 2026 | ~1,160 before the warQuote“SM-6 $5.3 1,160 190–370 53” Table 1 row. | CSIS Apr 21, 2026 | Estimate |
Model inputs
| Input | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Unit cost | $5.3M | CSIS, Apr 21, 2026Quote“SM-6 $5.3 1,160 190–370 53” |
| U.S. deliveries per year (recent average) Table 2: five-year average of U.S. procurement. | 96 | CSIS, Apr 21, 2026Quote“SM-6 96 42 11 53” |
| Announced production capacity (all customers) | 500/yr | CSIS, Apr 21, 2026Quote“RTX plans to increase SM-6 production to more than 500 missiles a year.” |
| FY2027 budget request | 540 | CSIS, May 27, 2026Quote“78 SM-3 Block IBs, 136 SM-3 Block IIAs, and 540 SM-6s” |
| FY2027 deliveries begin Assumes appropriations in October 2026, plus 37 months. | Nov 2029 | CSIS, May 27, 2026Quote“These orders will take between 36 and 39 months to begin deliveries once Congress provides appropriations.” |
| Months to deliver a full lot Table 2: production time for a full lot. | 11 | CSIS, Apr 21, 2026Quote“SM-6 96 42 11 53” |
| CSIS rebuild outlook | Early 2029 | CSIS, May 27, 2026Quote“inventories will not return to prewar levels until early 2029 despite the relatively low usage in the campaign.” |