I don't know if the source you linked there refutes the idea of an RAM in the 1996 crash of Flight 800. It sounds to me that the RIM-116 upgrade described in that source is actually a modification of an existing anti-aircraft missile so that it can be used against cruise missiles.
The German-U.S. angle is quite intriguing to me. One explanation I've heard about the need for a cover-up is that the incident involved an accidental shoot-down by a naval vessel from another NATO country.
No, if you had read the site you would have known that the Rim-116 Block 0 was first produced in 1989. That had problems right off the bat, and it was the RIM-116 Block 1 which was the first to under go evals and the first to be accepted into service in January 1999.