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October 14, 2008
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Aegis Ship-Based BMD
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Sea |
Details
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) will provide an efficient and highly mobile sea-based defense against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase.
The system will integrate the U.S. Navy’s existing fleet of Aegis cruisers (Ticonderoga class) and Aegis destroyers (Arleigh Burke class) with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor currently under development. The system will allow the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to move its defense capabilities close to enemy launch sites, thus providing a critical “layer” to the broader Ballistic Missile Defense System.
At present, each Aegis cruiser and destroyer is outfitted with the Aegis Weapon System—the heart of which is the AN/SPY-1 radar system. AN/SPY-1 sends out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions, thus allowing Aegis ships to track up to 100 targets simultaneously, while still retaining the ability to counter other air, surface, and submarine threats. AN/SPY-1 will be able to detect ballistic missiles as they rise above the horizon.
Once a hostile missile has been detected, Aegis BMD will launch its Standard Missile-3 interceptor from its MK41 Vertical Launching System (currently deployed on Aegis cruisers and destroyers). An evolution of the SM-2 Block IV interceptor, the SM-3 is a hit-to-kill missile comprised of a three-stage booster with a kill vehicle. As the SM-3 burns through its three stages, its GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System will set it on an intercept trajectory with the hostile missile. SM-3 will also receive target updates from the Aegis destroyer.
Once close enough to the ballistic missile, the SM-3 will fire its kill vehicle, the Kinetic Warhead (KW), from its nosecone. The KW will immediately begin to search for its target. It will acquire the ballistic missile using a high-resolution seeker, and maintain an accurate trajectory using its internal navigational system. As it closes on its target, the KW will identify the missile’s payload, and shift its aimpoint to ensure a lethal hit. When the KW finally slams into the enemy warhead, the kinetic energy of the high velocity impact will ensure complete destruction of the threat.
Since 1999, MDA has conducted five SM-3 flight tests. Four have been successful. The most recent test was on December 11, 2003, when a SM-3 from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie tracked, targeted, and destroyed a short-range target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Impact occurred at an altitude of 137 kilometers and a closing speed of approximately 3.7 kilometers per second. The entire operation, from detection to destruction, took four minutes.
President George W. Bush recently called on MDA to deploy a preliminary defense shield—including sea-based assets. In September 2004, the Navy will deploy an Aegis destroyer in the Sea of Japan capable of detecting and tracking missile launches from North Korea and China. In the event of a hostile launch, the destroyer will be able to transmit data to ten ground-based interceptors located in Fort Greely in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California (also scheduled for deployment in September 2004).
In 2005, the first fully operational Aegis BMD system will be deployed on an Aegis destroyer. MDA will conduct rigorous tests, using this initial deployment to integrate the AN/SPY-1 with SM-3 and improve the accuracy of the interceptor. In 2006, the Navy will deploy nine Aegis ships outfitted with SM-3 missiles and configured to carry out ballistic missile defense operations from almost anywhere in the world.
During this initial deployment phase, Aegis BMD will provide a cost effective means of countering emerging threats from rogue nations and terrorists. The United States has already invested $50 billion in its cruisers and destroyers alone, and the additional cost of outfitting these ships with SM-3s is relatively small compared with that of developing new air-based, land-based, and space-based systems. Although the Navy will eventually need more ships over time to handle its regular duties, in the interim Aegis BMD will serve as an excellent stopgap measure.
MDA’s long-term goal is to transform Aegis BMD into a comprehensive missile defense system capable of destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), possibly in their boost phase. As MDA improves its layered missile defense system, Aegis BMD will be able to integrate its tracking system with other new BMD tracking systems such as Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) satellites, the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), or the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX). Although many consider the SM-3 too slow to intercept ICBMs, some believe that these enhanced detection and tracking capabilities will allow Aegis BMD to launch its interceptors earlier, thus allowing the SM-3s to reach long-range targets.
MDA and the Navy are also considering the development of a larger and faster interceptor missile.
Sources
Arms Control Association.
England, Gordon R. Remarks at the National Missile Defense Conference. Ronald Reagan Center, Washington, D.C., 22 March 2004.
Erwin, Sandra I. “Navy Prepares to Put Aegis Ships ‘On Alert.’” National Defense Magazine, March 2004.
GlobalSecurity.org.
Missile Defense Agency.
Raytheon Company.
Selinger, Marc. “Aegis on Tract for 2004 Missile Defense, Company Says.” Aerospace Daily, 13 January 2004.
U.S. Department of Defense. “Aegis Miss Test Successful.” Press Release 938-03, 11 December 2003.
Pacific Fleet Commander: Aegis Ready
In an interview for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Navy Admiral Walter F. Doran, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, described that the Aegis ships equipped with ballistic defenses are prepared for “limited defense operations.”
Q: What is the Navy’s role in ballistic missile defense with the Aegis system?
A: We are ready right now, the United States Navy in the Western Pacific, again 7th Fleet units, are ready for limited defense operations in the Western Pacific if we were required to do it. The sea-based ballistic missile defense is very much a real player. In fact, if you look back we have had very successful (interception) shots with the SM3 missile at the Pacific Missile Range.
Admiral Doran also answered questions about such things as China’s modernizing military and the North Korean threat.
» More stories on: Deployment, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Navy Interceptor Praised
The recent edition of Navy Times profiles the successes of the Navy’s Aegis ballistic missile defense program, which most recently scored another successful intercept during its February 24 test. The Navy Times cites a March 7 briefing, when “an MDA official said the SM-3 hit within single-digit centimeters of the intended target on the warhead.”
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
CSP on the Merits of Navy Missile Defense
Responding to the recent successful intercept on February 24, the Center for Security Policy has posted praise for the Navy’s sea-based Aegis ballistic missile defense system to meet the growing missile threat. They note first the significance of the test:
Three features make this test particularly significant: For the first time, the hardware and software utilized was the operational configuration (known as AEGIS BMD 3.0) that will be installed in all other AEGIS missile defense ships. No less noteworthy is the fact that the SM-3 utilized to shoot down the target was one of the first of the production rounds to come off the manufacturing line. And, the personnel used to conduct the test were the regular crew of the U.S.S. Lake Erie.
In other words, this was the “real deal.” The option of complementing land-based anti-missile defenses with sea-based assets capable of both tracking ballistic missiles and destroying them in-flight is now in hand.
In addition to the exemplary performance of the Lake Erie and her crew, Thursday’s test also featured another important development. A second AEGIS ship, the USS Russell, brought to bear for the first time a new capability known as the AEGIS Ballistic Missile Signal Processor (BMSP). This S-Band radar provided real-time discrimination and classification of the target, information that considerably enhances the probability of intercept. The AEGIS BMSP holds great promise for expanding missile defense radar coverage at a fraction of the cost of other approaches.
» Feb. 28, 2005: Gaffney on Aegis in Washington Times
» More stories on: Analysis
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Sea-Based Missile Defense Intercept Successful
The Missile Defense Agency again today tested the Aegis ballistic missile interceptor system, with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor successfully destroying a mock enemy missile. The test is the fifth of six tests to have been successful.
The target missile was launched yesterday afternoon from the island of Kauai, of Hawaii. The SM-3 interceptor was subsequently launched from the U.S.S. Lake Erie, some 100 miles from the island, and the hit-to-kill intercept took place minutes later. The U.S.S. Russell and an airborne sensor both participated in the test for the development of future tracking programs. The SM-3 interceptors are scheduled to be deployed on Aegis ships later this year.
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Land-Based Test of Aegis SM-3 Interceptors
The Missile Defense Agency yesterday announced a recent successful test of the maneuvering system for the Standard Missile 3 which will be used to intercept missiles as part of the Aegis sea-based defenses. The test of the actual kinetic warhead which would intercept an enemy missile was completed on November 30, 2004. The test is described by the MDA and by Lockheed Martin as an important milestone in the interceptor’s development.
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis SM-3 Interceptors Delivered to MDA
Raytheon has begun to deliver to the Missile Defense Agency the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), the interceptor to be deployed on a number of Aegis cruisers, for sea-based missile defense. The delivery was of the first of five interceptors scheduled for delivery this year.
“Aegis BMD went to sea on Sept. 30, able to track an ICBM and to communicate that information to the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Today we mark the fact that we will soon add firepower to Aegis BMD with the SM-3 missile. It will then be able to participate in the defense of not only the U.S., but of our allies, friends and deployed troops against short-medium range ballistic missiles around the globe,” said Rear Admiral Kathleen Paige, program director Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense.
» MDA release on SM-3 delivery
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Missile Tracking Ships Now on Patrol in Sea of Japan
The U.S. Navy has begun patrols in the Sea of Japan with its Aegis ships, which are equipped to detect and track ballistic missiles, such as those which could be launched from North Korea and China. Some 15 Aegis destroyers and 3 Aegis cruisers are currently being modified for the missile detection duty.
» East Asia Intel on Deployment in the Sea of Japan
» Stars and Stripes on 7th Fleet’s new missile tracking role
» More stories on: Deployment, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis System Undergoes Land Based Test
The Aegis sea-based missile defense system underwent a test that is being described as a significant marker to its ability to track and eventually destroy ballistic missile targets. The test took place on land at the U.S. Navy Combat System Engineering Development Site, on August 27. No actual targets were launched, but the test rather consisted of simulations in conjunction with the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system which includes the systems at Fort Greely Alaska, and the Command and Control Center in Colorado. According to a report issued by Lockheed about the test, some fifteen Aegis destroyers and three Aegis cruisers will eventually be equipped with the system within the next few years.
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Naval Version of PAC-3 Under Consideration
A Naval version of the PAC-3 missile defense system is currently under consideration, with a study being done by the Pentagon of its feasibility. Such an interceptor would be capable of being mounted on Aegis ships, and be integrated with the Aegis radar and tracking systems.
» More stories on: Policy, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Aegis Ships to Begin Monitoring North Korean Missiles in September
Six Aegis destroyers are being equipped to use their radars to track potential missile launches by North Korea, and will begin patrolling the Sea of Japan in September, roughly the same time that the first interceptors of the ground based missile defense system will become operational.
In the event of a missile launch, the ships’ radar would track the missile, and relay its information to a central location in Colorado, and ultimately to the missile interceptors themselves, which will be deployed in California and Alaska.
» More stories on: Deployment, Sea-Based Systems, Detection and Tracking
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
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