ABL Tests Tracking Laser
July 18, 2007 :: News
The Airborne Laser (ABL) recently passed a milestone test involving the successful tracking of a target, compensated for atmospheric turbulence and simulated the firing of a missile-killing laser. During the July 13 test at Edwards Air Force Base, the ABL identified and tracked a target on a modified KC-135 aircraft named Big Crow. The Big Crow target aicraft fired a beacon laser at the ABL aircraft, the ABL was able to measure and compensate for laser beam distortion caused by the atmosphere. The ABL then simulated the firing of a high-energy laser that would destroy the target. In the next test the ABL will use its own beacon illuminator laser, as opposed to one on the Big Crow, to measure the atmospheric distortion. Provided those tests proceed as planned and funding for the program is not cut by the Congress, a high energy "kill" laser will be installed on the ABL. The ABL's first full intercept test, currently scheduled for 2009, would destroy an in-flight missile with its laser. The House Armed Services Committee recently slashed $250 million from the ABL's budget, however, leaving only $298 million of the requested $549 million. (Article, Link)
» July 9, 2007: ABL Completes Fire Control Loop
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» Missile system details for: Airborne Laser (ABL)
Low Altitude THAAD "Fly-out" Test Successful
June 27, 2007 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Missile Defense Agency reports that a successful test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) defense system took place at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico, on June 26.
While this particular THAAD test did not involve a target or intercept attempt, it was significant as the first made "fly-out" at relatively low altitude. The MDA press release notes that the flight took place in a "highly-stressing low-endosphere (inside the atmosphere) environment. This was the lowest altitude fly-out of a THAAD interceptor to date, and demonstrated its ability to operate in a high-dynamic pressure environment with aero heating effects," that is, increased heat and friction from the denser atmosphere. (Article, Link)
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Aegis Intercept Test Successful; Spanish Frigate and THAAD Radar Part of Test
June 22, 2007 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the ninth successful test in eleven attempts of its "hit to kill" interceptor for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based component of the Agency's
Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). At approximately 4:40 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, the USS Decatur launched a Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) Block IA interceptor which successfully destroyed the target warhead more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai.
An Aegis cruiser (USS Port Royal, CG 73), a Spanish frigate, Méndez Núñez (F-104), and the MDA's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) mobile ground-based radar also participated in the flight test. U.S.S. Port Royal used the flight test to support development of the new Aegis BMD SPY-1B radar signal processor, collecting performance data on its increased target detection and discrimination capabilities. Méndez Núñez, stationed off Kauai, detected and tracked the ballistic missile with a minor modification made to its Aegis Weapon System. The THAAD radar, based on the island of Kauai, also tracked the target and exchanged data with the Aegis BMD cruiser. This was the first Aegis BMD test that used information from a land-based X-band radar: "The THAAD radar tracked them first. This particular case was to prove that THAAD can cue the Aegis system," said Joe Rappisi, Lockheed Martin director for Aegis ballistic missile defense.
The test was the third time the Aegis BMD system has demonstrated its target discrimination capabilities by intercepting a ballistic missile with a separating reentry vehicle. Additionally, the test marked the first time an Aegis BMD equipped destroyer was used to launch the interceptor missile instead of a cruiser. The participation of the Spanish frigate was also noteworthy, demonstrating the potential of cooperation with the system. Aegis BMD technology is being installed on 18 U.S. ships, including cruisers and destroyers. (Article, Link)
» Navy Times description of Aegis destroyer intercept
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
Pentagon Plans Three Missile Interceptor Tests This Summer
June 7, 2007 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct three test launches of ballistic missile interceptors this, according to MDA spokesman Rick Lehner in an interview, reports the Russian newspaper RIA Novosti. The agency will test an Aegis sea-based interceptor in late June or mid-July, a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor in July, and a Ground Based Interceptor in late August or September. A planned test of the Ground Based Interceptor was aborted in May due to a failure in the missile which would have been targeted. (Article, Link)
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Navy Tests Tomahawk Block IV
May 30, 2007 :: News
On March 26 the U.S. Navy has carried out a successful first test of a submarine torpedo tube-launched Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile at the Navy's missile range off the coast of southern California. The Tomahawk long range cruise missile is launched from surface ships or submarines and is principally designed for land warfare. Tomahawks fly at extremely low altitudes at subsonic speeds, and are deployed throughout the world’s oceans on various ships and submarines. The Block IV Torpedo Tube Launch missile is an all-weather missile that is launched from submarines.
The navy stated that the redesign of the navigation, guidance and communications subsystems has improved the missile. The missile in the March 26 test was launched from the Los Angeles-class attack submarine USS Pasadena (SSN-752), after which it ran a satellite-guided 635-nautical mile test flight to the NAVAIR Land Range at China Lake, California. Via satellite, the missile was redirected to an alternate flight route to an alternate target successfully. The one-hour, 26-minute flight concluded with a commanded 60-degree dive to the new target. (Article, Link)
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Malfunction with Target Missile Postpones GBI Intercept Attempt
May 25, 2007 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
Technical problems with a target missile derailed a highly anticipated U.S. test of its missile defense system on Friday. The test missile, a former Polaris submarine launched ballistic missile, was launched at 7:00 PM from Kodiak Island in Alaska, but due to problems with the target missile's flight, the interceptor at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was never launched to intercept it, and is thus recorded as a "no test" of the Ground Based Interceptor system. “We were not able to get the target downrange far enough or high enough to present a threat to the system,” said agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering. “It fell well short of the intended area. The system itself never had a chance to recognize it as a threat, and so did not respond to the target.” “There is always a risk of this occurrence since we are flying old intercontinental ballistic missile motors in our targets,” Obering said in a Missile Defense Agency press release. “We have initiated a target modernization program, within our existing budget which should mitigate these risks for the future. … We will attempt to repeat this test this summer.” (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
U.S. Aborts Aegis Test
December 8, 2006 :: Forbes :: News
An “incorrect system setting” caused the shutdown of two Standard Missile-3 interceptor launches in yesterday’s aborted test of the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. According to Missile Defense Agency spokesman Chris Taylor, a dummy enemy ballistic missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, simulating a missile attack on U.S. territory, while a shorter-range missile was fired from a Navy aircraft and aimed at the Aegis cruiser U.S.S. Lake Erie. After the target missiles were launched, a computer configuration problem occurred aboard the Lake Erie, grounding the first SM-3 interceptor missile. Officials halted the second SM-3 shortly thereafter. Both target missiles dropped harmlessly into the ocean. Out of the nine total tests of the Aegis system, seven have been successful. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
U.S. Test Launches Two Trident-2 SLBMs
December 7, 2006 :: Lockheed Martin :: News
The U.S. Navy today successfully test-fired two Trident-2 D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles from the Eastern Range in the Atlantic Ocean. The unarmed missiles were launched from the nuclear-powered U.S.S. Maryland (SSBN 738). The routine test, which was designed to confirm the reliability and readiness of U.S. strategic forces, marked the 117th consecutive successful test launch of the Trident-2 since 1989, a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle. The Trident-2 D5 has a range of 12,000 km, carries 8 to 12 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), and constitutes the mainstay of the U.S. submarine-based nuclear deterrent. It is currently deployed aboard 12 Ohio-class submarines, each of which carries 24 missiles. (Article, Link)
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» Missile details: Trident D-5
MDA Aborts THAAD Test, Problems with Target Missile
September 14, 2006 :: Reuters :: News
MDA aborted a test on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) yesterday due to problems with the target missile, reports Reuters. According to an MDA statement, “an anomaly occurred shortly after the [target] missile was launched.” The Hera target missile was destroyed by range safety officers about two minutes after it was fired at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The THAAD interceptor missile was not launched. (Article, Link)
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Boeing Official: Future BMD Tests Will Be “Increasingly Challenging”
September 7, 2006 :: Air Force Times :: News
Scott Fancher, vice president and program director of Boeing’s ground-based midcourse defense program, said Tuesday at a press conference that future ground-based interceptor (GBI) tests will be made “increasingly challenging.” He referred to the successful test on September 1, when a GBI launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, shot down a target missile in mid-flight, as “the beginning of an ever more increasingly challenging test series” that will involve “very realistic flight conditions,” including the use of countermeasures. Fancher echoed the remarks of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who said on August 27 that the anti-missile system would have to be fully tested with all its elements in place before it is declared ready. The next test of the ground-based system is planned for later this year and will be identical to the September 1 test, although tests in 2007 are expected to be more complex. (Article, Link)
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» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Vandenberg Air Force Base
