Nov 2, 2015 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin

Aegis, THAAD, C2BMC Integrated for Successful Test

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the Missile Defense Agency successfully conducted a multifaceted operational test of the ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) that resulted in the successful intercepts of multiple air and missile targets launched within moments of one another. In the test, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System   and the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System aboard the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) received support from a sensor command-and-control architecture that included an AN/TPY-2 radar, and the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications ( C2BMC ) suite.

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Mar 12, 2015 ASDNews Source : US Navy

The Navy's DDG 51 modernization program has met two key milestones Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) announced Dec. 22.

The milestones involve the successful installation and testing of the new Aegis baseline 9 combat system on two DDG 51 destroyers, and a hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) modernization to a third. The modernization program ensures Arleigh Burke-class ships keep pace with evolving threats while meeting service life requirements and future operational commitments.

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02/02/2015 Richard de Silva - DefenceIQ

According to a new study, there may be a need for investment in a “more offensive” surface warfare strategy, given the evolving global threat environment and the spectrum of utility for systems such as long-range missiles, directed energy and electromagnetic rail guns.

The research, conducted by Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), recommended that the U.S. Navy not only invests further in these systems but looks to increase their impact by restructuring the surface fleet and embracing new tactics. It argues that controlling the waters in the coming years will play a particularly vital role in strategic defence, not least because of the increasing opportunity of interoperation between naval, air, land and space assets.

Analysts are looking towards the mid-2020s as a make-or-break deadline, a period in which it is envisaged that there will be a global focus on anti-access/area-denial. A2/AD has already been causing strategic pressures in the Persian Gulf, the East China Sea, and other waters that require multinational port access, shipping routes or military patrols. When done correctly, the tactic can prevent troops from landing by sea or limit the range at which surface vessels can support forces inshore.

In tandem, there is a renewed focus among many nations on the growing threat of ballistic missiles. Spurred further by the conflict in Ukraine, fears that were last at their height during the Cold War have returned, but since this time, anti-missile strategic focus has centred primarily on asymmetric threats, such as counter-rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM) systems.

A great deal of interest now lies on the US Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, comprising a network of warships designed to intercept ballistic missiles post-boost phase and prior to reentry. Latest tests (as of November 2014) conducted by the Missile Defense Agency in the Pacific with recent upgrades have been reported as successful.

It is interesting to note that China has also identified a need to develop its seaborne missile capability and has announced that its own version of Aegis is also to expand with plans to launch eight new warships (Types 052C and 052D) to augment its ten existing destroyers and new aircraft carrier. Construction is to begin this year.

Most recently, the US Navy sees the deployment of two additional Aegis destroyers (F-100) in Spain his year as providing a “significant deterrent”, according to remarks made to Sputnik News Agency. A representative of US Naval Forces Europe stated that the placement of the vessels maximised “their operational flexibility for missions in the Atlantic and Mediterranean” while further enabling rapid response to any crisis.

The F100 Álvaro de Bazán class multi-role frigate is one of the few non-US warships to carry the Aegis Combat System and its associated AN/SPY-1 radar, along with ballistic resistant steel in the hull and anti-vibration power plants. Other nations to carry the honour are Japan, South Korea and Norway.

Captain Manuel Martinez-Ruiz, programme director for the F-100 (as well as overseeing the impending introduction of the F-110 frigates) – believes the vessels are up to the task of dealing with a range of threats in the coming years and have already demonstrated their value as an AEGIS component during recent exercises.

“The Spanish Navy’s F-100 Frigates have shown excellent AAW capabilities since the commissioning of F-101 Alvaro de Bazán in 2001, and having participated in numerous NATO, US and UNO Coalition operations,” Martinez-Ruiz told Defence IQ.

“On the other hand, frigate F-104 Mendez Nuñez had a limited BMS&T (ballistic missile defense surveillance and tracking) role at FTM-12 (Flight Test Maritime-12) while  Alvaro de Bazan conducted some interoperability tests during Maritime Theatre Missile Defence events during Combat Systems Ship's Qualification Trials. Recently, the F-100 C2 capabilities have been improved through Joint Range Extension.”

“While I consider land based asymmetric threats to be something to pay attention to in the future at the tactical level, I believe ballistic missile defence threats – both current and emerging – are something that impacts us on a more strategic and political level, and involves much more complex action among our agencies and nations. What is clear however is that the Spanish Navy’s future ships, such as the F-110 frigates, will be focused more on countering asymmetric threats.”

As technology evolves, the opportunities for surface warship capabilities are ever-increasing as long as the R&D funding can keep up. Of course, with rising complexities, new challenges also rear their heads, particularly when it comes to introducing new systems into an existing family of systems and then testing them within the parameters of a realistic scenario.

“I think the biggest challenge is to be able to characterise anti-aircraft warfare and BMD threats in order to operate them in a coordinated way by improving ‘detect-control-engage’ technology,” Martin-Ruiz explained. “The need to face emerging BMD and AAW threats at force level in this way requires an improved C2 architecture, sensor-to-shooter technology, as well as mission planning capabilities. Also, increasing radar sensitivity with electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM) capabilities will be the next hurdle for radar technology.”

The field is further complicated by the increasingly urgent need to ensure that multinational systems are integrated alongside standardised methods and tactics, a situation that can only be achieved through continued multilateral naval exercises.

“That will be extremely important in the coming years,” Martinez-Ruiz confirms, “as will the need to increase interoperability among NATO and allied forces. New protocols such as JRE-C and more robust data link capabilities with images and progressive streaming video transmission mechanisms (for example, JPEG2000 based on wavelets) are possibly required to face asymmetric and emerging threats. There are some exciting multinational projects underway now such as NATO’s Smart Defence project and the MTMD forum in which our Navy is interested.”

Martinez-Ruiz will be briefing the delegation at this year’s Integrated Air and Missile Defenceconference (Seville, Spain, 16-18 March). He identified a specific set of focuses with which he hopes those attending will truly engage. These include European initiatives on AIMD, threat assessment and mission planning, characterisation of emerging threats, technology for asymmetric threats, and discussion on mission modules and UAVs.

January 12th, 2015 defencetalk.com

The U.S. media recently reported that the new type-055 guided missile destroyer of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) and the U.S. Aegis warship are on a par with each other in terms of power and strength and that the type-055 destroyer is one of the five weapons China might use to change rules of the game in the future.

However, Yin Zhuo, a Chinese military expert, said in an interview that the so-called type-055 destroyer is not the world’s largest guided missile destroyer and speculation that it will change the rules of the game is just an exaggeration.

Previously, U.S. media reported that the PLAN’s type-055 destroyer has a displacement of 10,000 tons and can carry 128 anti-ship cruise missiles, anti-aircraft missiles and ship-to-ground attack cruise missiles. It can be even equipped with electromagnetic guns and laser weapons. The type-055 destroyer is able to carry out in-depth strikes through cruise missiles and also protect its taskforce through the control of airspace.

The U.S. media even believed that judging from its huge volume, strong arm system and advanced sensing equipment, the type-055 destroyer will meet or exceed the capability of “Aegis” destroyer which is current deployed by the U.S. and its allies in the Pacific.

Yin Zhuo said that the type-055 destroyer is not the world’s largest destroyer. In terms of tonnage, although the type-055 has a lot of advantages over the type-052C and the type-052D, it is certainly not the largest destroyer in the world.

Currently, the displacement of Russia’s Modern-class destroyer and Udaloy-class destroyer has reached 8,000 to 9,000 tons. The displacement of Japan’s Atago-class destroyer is over 9,000 tons and the U.S. DDG-1000 destroyer has a displacement of 12,000 tons.

The Type 055 destroyer can in no way change the rules of the game in the future.

Yin argued that “the interpretation of the type-055 new missile destroyer by Western media was excessive. Since the World War II, the emergence of nuclear weapons transformed conventional war into nuclear war; the emergence of the aircraft carrier has shifted the leading role in water battle from fleet to aviation personnel. These two forms of weapons have changed the war significantly. At present, relying solely on the destroyer could not change the rules of war. Even the DDG-1000 destroyer of the U.S. cannot change that.”

Some Western media reported that the type-055 destroyer might have some new operational capabilities and it has the ability to attack air, land and other ships. These are important to improving the capability of the PLAN.

Yin Zhuo believed that the type-055 destroyer is equivalent to the U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer or Japan’s Atago-class destroyer. The type-055 destroyer is equipped with digital phased radar, similar to the U.S. and Japanese destroyers at the technical level. Meanwhile, the type-055 destroyer has large tonnage and thus can carry more weapons. If the Western media is correct, its payload will be about one hundred pieces.

Yin Zhuo also expressed that the type-055 destroyer might welcome a new power system. If the warship is equipped with new-concept weapons, a whole dynamic electric power system commanded by computers will be introduced. Because launching new-concept weapons including laser weapons and electromagnetic guns requires enormous energy within a short period of time. Using digital all-electric propulsion will be a revolutionary change for the PLAN.

Jun 23, 2014 ASDNews Source : Missile Defense Agency

The Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, the Joint Functional Component Command, Integrated Missile Defense, U.S. Northern Command and the U.S. Navy completed an integrated exercise of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the nation’s Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). During the test today, a long-range ground-based interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, intercepted an intermediate-range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army’s Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The test, designated Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor-06b (FTG-06b), will provide the data necessary to assess the performance of numerous BMDS elements for homeland defense.

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Raytheon's air missile defense radar is meant to increase detection range, according to the company. (Raytheon illustration)

Apr. 8, 2014 - By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS – Defense News

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. — With a temporary work stoppage lifted, Raytheon is working to develop its air missile defense radar (AMDR) for the US Navy’s future Aegis destroyers.

“We’re two months into the contract, but we’re more than two years into technical development,” Tad Dickinson, Raytheon’s AMDR program manager, said at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition outside Washington.

The company already has built a test array structure, a roughly 14-by-14-foot array to check fittings of the components of the electrically scanned radar, which will replace SPY-1 radars used on today’s Aegis ships.

The S-band AMDR will have more than 30 times the sensitivity of the SPY-1, and is designed to dramatically increase the fidelity of the system to track ballistic missile targets.

Raytheon beat proposals from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman to win the AMDR contract. Work was temporarily halted when Lockheed filed a protest, but the work stoppage ended in January when the protest was dropped. Raytheon and Lockheed will both work on AMDR, which will be integrated into the Lockheed Aegis system.

Raytheon is working toward the program’s first critical design review, scheduled for November. The system is intended to be installed in the yet-to-be-named DDG 124, a destroyer to be funded in 2016. Delivery of the first set of AMDR radars is scheduled for 2019, Dickinson said.

Apr. 6, 2014 By DAVID LARTER – Defense News

The military could speed up deployment of a land-based missile defense shield in Europe to hem in a resurgent Russia, the Navy 3-star in charge of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said in early April.

Vice Adm. James Syring said it was possible to speed up the deployment of the second Aegis Ashore installation, planned for Poland in 2018, but such a move would require some help from Congress.

“We’d need some additional funds in the [fiscal year 2015] budget, and we’d need to move up the development of the [Standard Missile-3 Block ]IIA,” Syring said, referring to the faster, larger interceptor missile being developed for the Aegis Ashore system being built in Poland. The first site is being stood up in Romania and is slated to go live in 2015.

Raytheon is developing the SM3-IIA. It’s development is on track for a 2018 deployment, company spokesperson Heather Uberuaga said, but she declined to speculate on whether speeding up the development was possible.

Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, said the missile shields in the Mediterranean and the planned deployment to Romania and Poland were designed to counter threats from Iran, not Russia.

Russia is banned from owning or developing medium- and intermediate-range missiles by a Reagan-era treaty. But U.S. intelligence has indicated that Russia may be violating the treaty and testing a new ground-launched cruise missile, according to a January report in the New York Times.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the treaty obsolete in 2007, though it has never been formally scrapped. Russia has vehemently objected to the deployment of missile shields in central Europe, even threatening to use “destructive force” if the shields are put in place.

The plan to deploy sea- and shore-based missile shields in Europe is part of the Obama administration’s plan to protect Europe from ballistic-missile attack.

The first Aegis Ashore site will be up and running by 2015 in Romania, followed by another installation in Poland in 2018.

They will complement the missile defense work provided by BMD-capable ships. As part of this, the Navy has begun moving four destroyers to Rota, Spain, to serve as in-theater BMD patrol assets. The Donald Cook arrived in February and will be joined by destroyers Ross, Porter and Carney over the next two years.

The Navy is now seeking sailors to man the Romania site, set to come online next year. The duty, especially the operational time, is sure to be demanding.

The Aegis Ashore sites will be run round-the-clock by three crews. Each shift has an 11-person watch team, including rates that typically work in a ship’s combat information center: fire control technicians, operations specialists, and cryptologic technicians (technical). One watch officer will oversee them.

Officials plan to deploy three of these specially trained watch teams for six months at a time. This will be an operational tour, similar to a ship’s cruise, and won’t come with permanent change-of-station orders or the possibility of bringing dependents to Romania.

All of the watch teams will be assigned to a stateside command and will deploy from there. Their workups are four months of indoctrination and team trainers, culminating in a BMD certification. The first watch teams will go through the trainers starting in early 2015 and are set to deploy in the early summer, Navy officials said.

The battery’s commanding officer, executive officer and command master chief will stay in Romania and oversee the rotating teams on yearlong orders

03/04/2014 par Duncan Macrae – Air & Cosmos

L’agence américaine responsable du développement et du déploiement des systèmes de défense antimissile (MDA, pour Missile Defense Agency) en prend pour son grade. Dans un nouveau rapport qui fait le bilan des activités de la MDA pour l’année 2013, le GAO (équivalent américain de la Cour des Comptes) critique le manque de progrès dans la mise à niveau de certains composants du "bouclier" antimissile américain, notamment les système d’interception Aegis et GMD.

En ce qui concerne les intercepteurs SM-3 déployés sur les frégates Aegis pour contrer les missiles à courte et moyenne portée, le GAO s’interpelle quant au lancement de la production en série de la variante Block 1B, actuellement prévu en 2015. Le GAO souligne que, sur les trois tirs d’essai réalisés en 2013, il y a eu un échec dont les causes restent à déterminer. Et il rappelle que les responsables du programme évoquent un éventuel problème de conception du moteur du troisième étage, un moteur partagé avec la version SM-3 Block 1A déjà déployée.

Quant au système GMD (conçu pour intercepter des missiles balistiques à longue portée, actuellement déployé sur deux sites américains), le rapport note que ce programme affiche actuellement un retard de sept ans dans la réalisation d’un premier tir de la version amélioréé, CE-II ,avec interception rélle. Ce tir est actuellement programmé pour le troisième trimestre de l’année fiscale 2014. Le GAO note aussi l’échec, au mois de juillet 2013, d’un essai en vol du missile tel qu’il est déployé actuellement, pour des raisons qui restent à déterminer.

Le rapport fait état d’un certain nombre de tirs d’essai réussis au cours de l’année, notamment le premier essai opérationnel « régional » avec tirs simultanés de missiles Aegis et THAAD. Mais le bilan global est mitigé, et la facture est salée — un total de 100 Md$ investis dans la défense antimissile depuis 2004.

29 January 2014 By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Toni Burton – Pacific Sentinel

YOKOSUKA, Japan - U.S. 7th Fleet, U.S. Forces Japan and Japan Self Defense Force (JMSDF) operators will hone their Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) skills in exercise Keen Edge 2014 which runs through Jan. 31.

Throughout the exercise, Japanese and U.S. headquarter staffs will simulate the tactical defensive steps that would be taken in the event of a crisis or contingency.

"The successful defense of Japanese and U.S. interests from unanticipated ballistic missile threats requires detailed planning, precision ship stationing and lightning quick reactions," said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Klobukowski, 7th Fleet integrated air and missile defense officer. "BMD is one of the many missions the U.S. and Japan train for together."

Since 1986, the United States military and JMSDF have collaborated and planned a biennial joint-bilateral exercise referred to as Keen Edge.

"Keen Edge 14 helps the U.S. military and JMSDF build relationships ensuring we can work effectively together to defend Japan and U.S. forces based here. Our goal is to provide credible and tangible defensive combat power to ensure security and stability in the region." explained Klobukowski.

This year, Keen Edge will focus on the importance of bilateral coordination, force protection, host nation support, ballistic missile defense and non-combatant evacuation operations. More than 500 U.S. military personnel will participate in the exercise.

The exercise builds on recent Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense achievements such as the October 2013 intercept of a medium-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean by the Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapon System and a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB guided missile, the 28th successful intercept in 34 flight test attempts for the Aegis BMD program since flight testing began in 2002.

Aegis BMD is the naval 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 SM-3, as well as short-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase with the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) Block IV missile.

US Pacific Fleet

SEOUL, Jan. 6 (UPI)

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff have decided to procure three additional Aegis destroyers, bringing its Aegis fleet to six ships.

The vessels will be procured by the mid-2020s if a budget for them is secured, boosting the country's naval defenses against threats from North Korea, according to Ministry of National Defense officials.

"We'll expand our ballistic missile detection and tracking, and anti-submarine capability to prepare for asymmetric threats from North Korea, such as nuclear weapons, missiles and submarines, and their local provocation," an unidentified official said. "In real wartime, we will significantly improve our area anti-aircraft defense and striking power against surface ships and ground high-payoff targets.

"Moreover, for the potential threat around the Korean Peninsula, we will improve our reaction capability on the ocean sovereignty defense."

South Korea's Navy operates three Aegis destroyers, which were procured in 2008, 2010 and 2012. While one is operational, one is used as a standby vessel, with the third in maintenance.

"As we're seeking for further military strength, such as a task fleet, additional Aegis ships are essential for more effective operation," an MND official said.

TEWKSBURY, Mass., Nov. 18 (UPI)

More AN/SPY-1 radar transmitters and MK99 fire control systems for the U.S. Navy's Aegis missile system are being produced by Raytheon.

Raytheon, which has produced the systems critical to Aegis for decades, said the multi-year order from the Navy is worth $406 million.

"Through our long-standing role on the Aegis program, we continue to build on our core radar expertise, consistently delivering reliable and highly-capable components to support the mission needs of naval fleets," said Kevin Peppe, vice president of Seapower Capability Systems for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems. "Our history of performance is a testament to our extensive legacy of experience in the design and development of complex radars."

Aegis is an advanced weapons system deployed on U.S. Japanese, Korean and Norwegian ships to protect against airborne threats, including ballistic missiles.

The AN/SPY-1 radar transmitters and MK99 Fire Control Systems perform the search, track and missile guidance functions of the system, which is being adapted for shore use as part of the U.S. ballistic missile defense system.

Additional contract details were not provided.

16/10/2013 par Jacques N. Godbout - 45eNord.ca

L’armée sud-coréenne envisage d’acquérir le système de défense antimissile à haute altitude THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) pour renforcer la capacité d’interception de son système KAMD (Korea’s Air and Missile Defense), a fait savoir  une source militaire, rapporte l’agence de presse sud-coréenne Yonhap.

Les Sud-Coréens écarteraient ainsi la possibilité d’acheter des missiles SM-3 (Standard Missile) pour les installer sur des destroyers Aegis. «Nous envisageons d’établir un système de défense antimissile multicouches mais le SM-3 ne fait pas l’objet d’un examen», a déclaré la source sous couvert d’anonymat selon ce que rapporte l’agence sud-coréenne.

Le système de défense antimissile compte trois phases: phase ascendante, phase intermédiaire et phase terminale.

En service depuis 2008, le Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) de Lockheed Martin Space Systems est un système de missiles antibalistiques conçu pour détruire les missiles balistiques de portées moyenne ou intermédiaire dans leur dernière phase d’approche en s’écrasant contre eux (hit-to-kill).

Le missile ne transporte aucune ogive, c’est seulement son énergie cinétique qui sert à détruire.

Le THAAD est conçu, construit et monté par Lockheed Martin Space Systems .

Le ministère de la Défense a d’ailleurs souligné que «le missile SM-3 et les intercepteurs basés à terre (GBI:Ground-Based Interceptor) sont des systèmes d’interception de la phase intermédiaire et capables d’intercepter des missiles dans l’espace exo-atmosphérique» alors que les THAAD et PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability) sont destinés à intercepter des missiles dans leur phase terminale.

Selon le rapport du ministère, écrit l’agence sud-coréenne, le système THAAD est donc mieux adapté au système de défense antimissile de couche basse de la phase terminale du KAMD que l’armée coréenne vise à construire que le SM-3.

Quant au système PAC-3, sa capacité d’interception a été remise en question au sein de l’armée.

«L’altitude d’interception du système PAC-3 est inférieure à 30 km, ce qui permet une seule chance d’intercepter des missiles et pourrait engendrer des dégâts en cas d’interception de missiles portant une ogive nucléaire ou des armes chimiques», a expliqué un responsable de l’armée sud-coréenne, soulignant que, en revanche, comme l’altitude d’interception du système THAAD se situe entre 40 et 150 km, il est possible de profiter de deux occasions d’interception en le déployant avec le système PAC-3 et de réduire les dégâts lors de l’interception de missiles dans la couche haute».

Sep 13, 2013 ASDNews Source : US Navy

The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona delivered its first quick-look analysis Sept. 13 of the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) test earlier this week, kicking off the collaborative assessment process for the first operational test of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS).

The test, named Flight Test Operational-01 (FTO-01), took place near the Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site and surrounding areas in the western Pacific and marked the first time combatants in different regions defended against near-simultaneous ballistic missile launches.

During the test, MDA successfully integrated Navy destroyer USS Decatur (DDG 73) with the Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and a space-based infrared detection system.

"This was a great feat for our Navy and the nation as we move toward an operational ballistic missile defense system," said Capt. Eric Ver Hage, commanding officer of NSWC Corona, a Naval Sea Systems Command field activity based in Norco. His command served as the lead analysis and assessment agent of the Navy's system in the test - Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) - providing missile telemetry and combat system data collection.

To conduct the test, MDA launched two medium-range ballistic missile targets in close sequence toward Kwajalein.

An Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control (AN/TPY-2) radar detected the target and relayed track information to the Command and Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system, which integrated, analyzed and synchronized combatants to formulate a real-time threat response among participating units.

The crew of Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Decatur provided the Navy's operational element, tracking and intercepting the first target missile with a missile of its own - a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IA. Soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment provided the Army's operational element, using the THAAD system to intercept the second target.

Aboard Decatur, NSWC Port Hueneme's Aegis BMD personnel extracted data from the ship's system, which subsequently traveled on Corona's innovative mini-Ku band satellite back to shore. The mini-Ku system cuts data transmission time by more than 95 percent from earlier versions, sending all missile telemetry and Aegis combat system data to the warfare center's Joint Warfare Assessment Laboratory (JWAL) where analysts from gathered to provide live monitoring of test data.

Initial data indicated the test elements performed as designed, but MDA officials have ongoing evaluations using the test data, starting with Corona's quick-look analysis.

"NSWC Corona will collaborate with the MDA Joint Analysis Team and Commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force to provide an overall assessment of the BMDS from both an engineering and an operational perspective," said Tony Jones, NSWC Corona's Aegis BMD assessment lead.

As a core mission for the Navy, Aegis BMD capability defeats short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats with SM-3, as well as short-range ballistic missiles in the terminal phase with the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2).

Since the 1970s, Corona's sister division at NSWC Dahlgren has been intimately involved in the development, test, certification and fielding of almost every new baseline of the Aegis Weapon System (AWS), providing an integrated system that supports warfare on several fronts - air, surface, subsurface and strike.

At sea, the Navy has 28 Aegis BMD combatants - five Ticonderoga Class Cruisers and 23 Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyers - with 16 assigned to the Pacific Fleet and 12 to the Atlantic Fleet. MDA and the Navy plan to increase the number of BMD-capable ships to 30 by the end of 2013.

"As a former ship's captain, I'm excited by the positive results we're seeing," Ver Hage said. "Corona has been providing independent assessment of guided missile systems for nearly 50 years, and the progress our military is making toward building a comprehensive ballistic missile defense system is truly remarkable. It's an awesome capability we absolutely need."

As part of the Navy's Science and Engineering Enterprise, NSWC Corona leads the Navy in independent assessment, measurement and calibration standards and range systems engineering. The warfare center is home to three premier laboratories and assessment centers - the JWAL, the Measurement Science and Technology Lab, and the Daugherty Memorial Assessment Center -and employs approximately 2,000 scientists, engineers, technicians, and support personnel at its headquarters in Norco and at its detachment at Seal Beach, Calif.