U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS LAKE ERIE (CG 70) successfully conducted a flight test of the...
U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and
U.S. Navy sailors aboard the USS LAKE ERIE (CG 70) successfully
conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD)
system, resulting in the intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile
target over the Pacific Ocean by a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA
guided missile.
At 11:10 p.m. HST (4:10 a.m. EST) a unitary medium-range
ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range
Facility, on Kauai, Hawaii. The target flew northwest towards a broad
ocean area of the Pacific Ocean. The in-orbit Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Demonstrators (STSS-D) detected and tracked the target, and forwarded track data to the USS LAKE ERIE. The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD weapon system, used Launch on Remote doctrine to engage the target.
The ship developed a fire control solution from the STSS-D track and launched the SM-3 Block IA guided missile approximately five minutes after target launch. The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space and released its kinetic warhead. The kinetic warhead acquired the target reentry vehicle, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the target.
Initial indications are that all components performed as designed. Program officials will assess and evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
Today’s event, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-20 (FTM-20), was a demonstration of the ability of space-based assets to provide mid-course fire control quality data to an Aegis BMD ship, extending the battlespace, providing the ability for longer range intercepts and defense of larger areas.
FTM-20 is the 24th successful intercept in 30 flight test attempts for the Aegis BMD program since flight testing began in 2002. Across all Ballistic Missile Defense System programs, this is the 58th successful hit-to-kill intercept in 73 flight tests since 2001.
Aegis BMD is the sea-based component of the MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System. The Aegis BMD engagement capability defeats short- to intermediate-range, unitary and separating, midcourse-phase ballistic missile threats with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), as well as short-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase with the SM-2 Block IV missile. The MDA and the U.S. Navy cooperatively manage the Aegis BMD program.
The test marks the ninth time in three years that the USS Lake Erie and its crew successfully performed at-sea operations against cruise and ballistic missile targets using the second-generation Aegis BMD system. Recently, it received faster, more powerful commercial-off-the-shelf signal processing equipment and updates to its weapon system computer programs.
Aegis BMD's upgraded signal processor enables the Navy to defeat more sophisticated ballistic missile threats using improved target identification capabilities. It includes an open architecture BMD computing suite that improves overall system capabilities and enables future insertion of more off-the-shelf products, third-party components and turn-key solutions.
The MDA and Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States' Ballistic Missile Defense System. Currently, 26 U.S. Aegis BMD-equipped warships have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and tracking missions. That number is expected to increase to 32 by 2014.
