Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
September 8, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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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.
Minuteman III Tracked by BMD Radar During Test
The U.S. Air Force today successfully test launched a Minuteman III ballistic missile. Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the missile hit its target 4,200 miles away, at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. Some 500 Minuteman III missiles are deployed in the continental United States.
The test launch provided an opportunity to test the missile defense radar based on an Aegis ship, in this case the USS Paul Hamilton, and the sending of that information to the missile defense command center in Colorado Springs, to generate a fire control solution, as if the Minuteman had been a real target.
» MDA release on missile tracking
» Aegis ship-based missile defense radar tracks Minuteman III
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile details: Minuteman III
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Missile Defense Advocates Question KEI
As the Pentagon pushes for the development of the Kinectic Energy Interceptor (KEI), a system intended to shoot down missiles during the boost phase, and as the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) gave contracts to Northrop Grumman and Raytheon to develop the KEI system, staunch missile defense supporters are voicing concern over the usefulness of the system, according to Defense News.
Henry Cooper, chairman of High Frontier, a missile defense advocacy group, said last month at a Washington breakfast sponsored by the National Defense University, funding should be allocated to space and sea-based systems within the time frame provided for the development of the KEI. Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, and James Hackett, a San Diego-based consultant, echoed similar sentiments.
Gaffney noted that the KEI, a land-based system, lacks in effectiveness against missiles in their boost phase because it is not able to be deployed near the launch site. For missile defense interceptors, the boost phase provides much better odds for taking out a missile because of the slower speed of flight right after launch and the inability to utilize decoys.
All three experts agreed that, in the long term, a space-based system is the best way forward for countering missiles in the boost phase; while, for the near term, using some KEI money for putting interceptors modeled after the Standard Missile-3 on the Navy’s Aegis cruisers is a worthwhile endeavor.
» More stories on: Policy
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI)
Aegis Missile Interceptors May Be Sold to Japan
In addition to deploying a U.S. Aegis cruiser to the Sea of Japan this year, plans to sell sea-based interceptors to Japan are likely to get the go-ahead, according to a news story in Forbes. Japan is expected to purchase nine SM-3 interceptors for its existing Aegis ships.
» More stories on: Allies, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Japan Planning Missile Purchases, Tests
Japan and the United States have tentatively agreed to conduct a joint, sea-based missile interceptor flight test in late 2005, according to Japan’s Kyodo news, and Inside Missile Defense. The interceptor tested would likely be the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), deployed on Aegis destroyers.
Moreover, Japan has requested to purchase, according to SpaceDaily, nine SM-3 Block 1A missiles and other upgrades, including to the overall Aegis system, worth up to $725 million.
» Space Daily on Japan’s purchasing, testing plans
» More stories on: Allies, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis to Continue to Evolve
The Aegis cruiser based missile interceptor will continue to evolve its capabilities, Lockheed Martin reports. The sea-based system will have a designed-in “open architecture” to permit technological improvements and updates.
» Update: May 7, 2004: Lockheed has two open architecture plans
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Sec. of Navy: U.S. to Deploy Aegis Destroyer in Sea of Japan This Year
In addition to the land-based interceptors at Fort Greeley, Alaska, the United States will also be deploying an Aegis cruiser as part of the missile defense deployment scheduled to take place by September 30, according to Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, speaking in commemoration of the 21st anniversary of Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
The announcement comes as good news, indicating that deployment is on schedule, and that the land-based system will be supplemented and expanded.
» Text of Secretary England’s remarks on missile defense
» Japan pleased with US plans to deploy Aegis
» Sec. England outlines plan through 2006
» More stories on: China, North Korea, Policy, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Sale to Taiwan Initially Approved
In the weekly Inside the Ring, Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough note that the Pentagon has now for the first time approved the sale of the Aegis cruiser battle-management systems, which include the sea-based missile defense program.
As noted here, the Aegis system includes a large phased-array radar with a range to track objects of some hundreds of miles, and include satellites in space. The Aegis is described as the “core” of the sea-based missile defense system, now set to be deployed for the defense of America in 2005.
The approved sale comes less than two weeks before the March 20 referendum in Taiwan over whether missile defenses are the right response to the nearby Chinese missile buildup.
» More stories on: Allies, Policy, Sea-Based Systems, Taiwan
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis BMD May Be Deployed By Early 2005
According to the March issue of National Defense magazine, the Navy is preparing to put Aegis crusiers’ missile defense systems on alert by early 2005. The Navy’s current plan is said to be the deployment of three Aegis ships armed with interceptors capable of destroying short- and medium-range enemy ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase above the atmosphere.
» More stories on: ABM Treaty, Policy, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Missile Defense Test Successful
The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy today conducted the fourth test of the Aegis sea-based missile defense system, which was a success. The test involved the launch of a short range target missile from Kauai, Hawaii. Some two minutes later, a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor was launched from the USS Lake Erie Aegis cruiser. Two minutes after this, the SM-3 intercepted and destroyed the target missile with its own kinetic force.
Before the USS Lake Erie launched its SM-3 missile, however, it received additional tracking information conveyed from another Aegis destroyer, the USS Russell, located near the island of Kauai, to serve as a test of coordinating multiple sources of tracking information.
After being put onto the right course by the SM-3 missile, the kinetic warhead tracked and closed upon the target missile, finally impacting it at an altitude of 137 km and at a closing speed of some 3.7 km/sec.
The Aegis system is one of the many “hit to kill” technologies which demonstrates time and again it is indeed possible to “hit a bullet with a bullet.” The sea-based system is but one important part of the layered defense necessary to protect the United States.
Update: The director of the Pentagon’s Office of Operational Test and Evaluation, Thomas Christie, told Inside the Pentagon in a December 15 interview that the Aegis Test was a “success.”
“It showed you can…pick up the [enemy] missile after it was launched, with the destroyer passing information to the cruiser, which had the Standard Missile-3 intercept the target,” the Pentagon’s top test official noted.
Christie also said the intercept gave the Pentagon confidence in its plan for a layered missile defense system that utilizes different components at different stages of the operation.
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
New Radar Expands Capacity of Aegis BMD
Lockheed Martin’s newly unveiled S-Band radar will expand the range of the Aegis cruisers’ missile interception capacity, Geostrategy Direct reports. The Aegis sea-based missile defense is designed to intercept intermediate range missiles. (subscription required)
» More stories on: Technology
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
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