ESSM( 50km range) never finish its rocket fuel chasing sea skimming missiles. On the other hand ESSM couldnt cope with fighters. So the missile is waste of limited space.
ESSM is one of the most potent air defence missiles around today. It is supposed to stay in service well in to latter part of 2030’s.
No one in public domain really knows what it’s maximum altitude and range is. Most educated guesstimates are with a possible effective range of up to 80km. Any missile that can have an effective range of that much will have a decent effective altitude as well. But it has to be remembered that it was designed as a short to medium range air defence missile.
It has a maximum speed of 4+ Mach. It has a dual thrust engine on board. This is a fire and sustain type of rocket motor. The fuel tank contains two types of fuel. One that burns fast and gives a high top speed very quickly. And another fuel that is slower to burn but sustains the speed and power delivery of the motor. So it’s engine stays on longer than other standard rocket engines.
It can engage short range ballistic missiles as well as sea skimming subsonic and supersonic anti ship missiles. The ESSM provides the capability to counter high G manoeuvring anti-ship missiles. It can be used in cases where supersonic anti ship missile interception is needed. The missile is equipped with an insensitive munition (IM)-compliant, annular blast fragmentation warhead, weighing 40.5kg, and offers high lethality against anti-ship missiles. It can also engage attack aircraft, helicopters as well as ships.
US Aegis cruisers and destroyers as well as Japanese mega destroyers all have batteries of these missiles in their inventories; some as their main defence mechanism. So it would be, to say the least, presumptuous and even wrong to underestimate the capabilities of this missile.