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13 septembre 2013 5 13 /09 /septembre /2013 07:20
THAAD and Aegis BMD Successfully Engage Multiple Targets During Integrated BMDS Test

Sep 12, 2013 ASDNews Source : Lockheed Martin Corporation

 

Lockheed Martin’s [NYSE: LMT] Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System and the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) successfully conducted a complex missile defense flight test resulting in the intercept of two medium-range ballistic missile targets in an operationally realistic environment.

 

The test was conducted at U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll/Reagan Test Site and surrounding areas in the western Pacific. The test stressed the ability of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense and THAAD Weapon Systems to defeat a raid of two near-simultaneous medium-range ballistic missile targets. Preliminary data indicate all test objectives were achieved.

 

“Today’s successful intercepts proved once again that the capability and maturity of the Aegis and THAAD systems are unequaled,” said Mathew Joyce, vice president and program manager for THAAD at Lockheed Martin. “This test demonstrated the benefits of a layered, interoperable approach that can help protect nations from increasing global security threats.”

 

“The sailors and soldiers manning Aegis BMD and THAAD performed as they would in an operational or tactical scenario,” said Nick Bucci, director for Aegis BMD Programs at Lockheed Martin. “This test showed that sailors and soldiers can plan and execute a complex engagement against multiple targets in an integrated and layered defense architecture that mimics a regional missile defense operation.”

 

An Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control (AN/TPY-2) radar in Forward Based Mode (FBM) detected the target and relayed track information to the Command Control Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system to cue defending BMDS assets.

 

The USS Decatur detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. The ship, equipped with the Aegis BMD weapon system, developed a fire control solution, launched a Standard Missile-3, Block IA missile and successfully intercepted the target.

 

The FBM radar acquired the target and sent tracking information to the C2BMC system. The THAAD system, using a second AN/TPY-2 radar, tracked the target. THAAD developed a fire control solution, launched a THAAD interceptor missile and successfully intercepted the medium-range ballistic missile. THAAD was operated by soldiers from the Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

 

Today’s event, designated Flight Test Operational-01, demonstrated integrated, layered, regional missile defense capabilities in a combined live-fire operational test. Soldiers, sailors and airmen from multiple Combatant Commands operated the systems and were provided a unique opportunity to refine operational doctrine and tactics while increasing confidence in the execution of integrated air and missile defense plans.

 

Ballistic Missile Defense System programs have completed 62 successful hit-to-kill intercepts in 78 flight test attempts since 2001.

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10 septembre 2013 2 10 /09 /septembre /2013 19:20
Successful Shootdown: DDG Hits Ballistic-missile Target

A missile launched by the destroyer Decatur on Tuesday hit and destroyed a ballistic-missile target as part of a joint missile-defense test in the western Pacific. (photo US Navy)

 

Sep. 10, 2013 - By SAM FELLMAN – Defense News

 

A U.S. destroyer tracked and destroyed an overhead ballistic missile as one of two successful shootdowns in a joint exercise early Tuesday in the western Pacific.

 

A Standard Missile-3 fired from the destroyer Decatur “successfully intercepted” a medium range ballistic missile target fired on an “operationally realistic” flight path, the Defense Department said in a news release Tuesday. In addition to Decatur, soldiers with Alpha Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, shot down an incoming missile, making the exercise 2-for-2, in a live-fire test near Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

 

“All of our tests are hit-to-kill,” explained Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner, when asked about what type of hit the target sustained. “They have to come into contact with the target to destroy it.”

 

The test results were a success for the Navy’s Aegis ballistic-missile defense system, which is becoming the future of the destroyer fleet, and the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, in demonstrating layered tracking and intercept capabilities against realistic ballistic targets.

 

It’s the third straight successful Aegis BMD test, according to the MDA’s official record; the system hasn’t missed a target since a joint test last October and has 26 intercepts in 32 at-sea tests. THAAD hasn’t missed since tests began in 2006, MDA records show — 11 hits in 14 tests, with three exercises considered “no tests” because of target malfunctions.

 

Other elements of the missile shield have seen more mixed results. A long-range interceptor fired from the California coast failed to intercept its ballistic target in a July 5 test, the third failure in a row for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD.

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23 août 2013 5 23 /08 /août /2013 16:20
USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) fires a standard missile - photo US Navy

USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) fires a standard missile - photo US Navy

Aug 23, 2013 ASDNews Source : The Lockheed Martin

 

The Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy team's (NYSE: LMT) Aegis Combat System successfully completed the first live firing test that proves the system can defend beyond its line of sight by integrating data from a remote sensor to intercept a target.

 

The latest Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) test marks the first test at sea, and the second consecutive time this year, where Aegis used remote data to successfully intercept a target. Using the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) to interpret data from remote sources, Aegis launched a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) missile from the USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) to intercept the target.

 

"The latest NIFC-CA test demonstrated how the Aegis Combat System has taken a significant step forward in increasing interoperability with remote systems to extend the distance that we can detect, analyze and intercept targets," said Jim Sheridan, director of U.S. Navy Aegis programs for Lockheed Martin. "We continue to use our advanced solutions to provide the Navy with the robust and reliable capabilities needed to defend our nation from sophisticated threats."

 

As a result of the successful NIFC-CA test, Aegis proved once again that it can transform and adapt to threats and address a changing defense landscape. The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin are committed to modernization programs for the Aegis Combat System on cruisers and destroyers to extend service life and provide new technologies to the ships and their crews. Ships receiving Aegis system upgrades will field Open Architecture and Commercial Off-the-Shelf technologies that will reduce total ownership costs and ensure military readiness for ongoing missile defense needs.

 

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.

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2 juin 2013 7 02 /06 /juin /2013 07:20
Pentagon Works To Expand Aegis BMD’s Reach

May 31st, 2013 by Kris Osborn  -defensetech.org

 

Stellar Avenger successful ballistic missile defense intercept.The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy are developing next-generation Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) hardware and software along with a longer-range interceptor missile engineered to massively increase the protective envelope against intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats, service officials said.

 

The Navy and Lockheed Martin are now developing and testing computer code for what’s called Aegis BMD 5.0 and 5.1 Weapons Systems, the next iterations of technology designed to provide Aegis destroyers and cruisers with advanced radar, intercept and signal processing capabilities, said Navy Capt. Jim Kilby, Deputy for Aegis BMD.

 

The hardware and software for these systems are now being tested and refined at a Combat Systems Engineering Development Site in Moorestown, N.J.

 

“The code is now in test. Instead of having a normal ballistic missile signal processor, 5.0 will have a multi-mission signal processor,” said Kilby. “Lockheed Martin is testing this code in the final stages right now for stability and endurance.”

 

Aegis BMD destroyers routinely patrol waters in the Pacific Ocean, using cutting-edge radar technology to scan the surrounding skies for potential missile threats.

 

These routine patrols, part of the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet’s regular deployments and maritime security routines, have taken on additional importance in light of recently escalating tensions and potential threats emanating from North Korea.

 

“The purpose of the Aegis ships on patrol in the Pacific is a mission called Long Range Surveillance and Track and they act as sensors for homeland ballistic missile defense,” Kilby said. “In simple terms, their job is to provide an early detection of intercontinental ballistic missiles[ICBM] and provide fire control quality tracking data to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.”

 

This tracking data would enable Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) missiles, from either Fort Greeley, Alaska, or Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to intercept the ICBM before it could reach targets in the United States, said Kilby.

 

Overall, this kind of scenarios speaks to the broader multi-layered aspects of the U.S. missile defense posture, Kilby explained.

 

In total, the Navy’s Pacific Fleet is home to 16 Aegis BMD ships.

 

“The capability our AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) ships provide is in great demand. Longer, more frequent deployments have become more common. The Navy is busy. We expect to continue to be busy into the future as the operational requirements for our naval forces continues,” said Navy Lt.  Anthony Falvo, spokesman for the Navy’s Pacific Fleet.

 

Aegis BMD ships are known, in large measure, for their AN/SPY-1 radar system which surveys the surrounding atmosphere for potential threat objects in a 360-degree envelope, electronically scanning around the ship and up to high altitudes every twelve seconds, Navy officials indicated.

 

Then, once a threat is located by the radar, the ship’s MK 72 booster fires one of several possible Standard Missile-3’s out of what’s called a MK 41 Vertical Launch System, propelling the interceptor into space to collide with and destroy an approaching missile threat.

 

Aegis BMD Weapons Systems are designed in “increments” such that each new iteration is designed to build upon and add to substantial existing capability.  The new systems are engineered to build upon the progress of the recently tested Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapons System technology.

 

“4.0 has a ballistic missile signal processor called the BSP and the SM-3 Block IB has a two-color seeker. These two things give you more discrimination ability from the kill vehicle and more discrimination from a tracking or radar perspective,” he added.

 

 

Discrimination ability is described as having the technological capability to discern an incoming missile from surrounding debris, decoy objects or even fuel waste, Kilby explained.

 

Aegis BMD Weapons System 5.0 is now being integrated on the USS John Paul Jones, a guided-missile destroyer based at Naval Homeport, San Diego, Calif.

 

“The USS John Paul Jones has commercial-off-the-shelf computing technologies such as blade servers that are more similar to what is out in industry right now,” said William Doud, BMD special assistant.

 

In fact, the first sea trials involving the integration of an engineering load of Aegis BMD Weapons System 5.0 were completed earlier this month, a Navy official said.

 

“After the industrial portion of her availability ends this September, she [USS John Paul Jones] will have about a year of testing and certification trials to certify this combat system for installation in other ships,” the Navy source indicated.

 

Once complete in 2016, the Aegis BMD Weapons System 5.1 will be ready for installation, testing and certification aboard the USS John Paul Jones; Initial Operational Capability for Aegis BMD Weapons System 5.1 is currently slated for 2018, a Navy official said.

 

“The USS John Paul Jones will become the BMD test ship year from now,” Kilby added.

 

The Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor, to be ready by 2018, is being designed to integrated with the Aegis BMD Weapons System 5.1; the missile will travel much further above the earth’s atmosphere compared to prior missiles and bring an improved ability to identify, discriminate and destroy incoming enemy ballistic missiles, said Kilby.

 

The SM-3 Block IIA, and it predecessor, the recently tested SM-3 Block IB, are designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles during the Midcourse phase of their trajectory — essentially that period of time during which the missile is traveling through space above the earth’s atmosphere, Kilby explained.

 

The SM-3 Block IIA, currently being co-developed by the U.S. and Japan, has a 21-inch nose cone, large-diameter kinetic warhead and what’s called an advanced discrimination seeker, Kilby explained.

 

“The Block IIA has much more room for fuel and a bigger warhead. It goes faster and farther,” said Doud — comparing the SM-3 Block IIA to the SM-3 Block IB which recently intercepted a dummy warhead above the Pacific Ocean during a test-firing from the USS Lake Erie.

 

The May 15 test was conducted by Navy sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie, a guided-missile cruiser, which detected and tracked the missile with its on-board AN/SPY-1 radar, according to an MDA press statement.

 

The development of the SM-3 Block IIA and test of the MDA’s BMD system utilizing the Aegis Weapon System 4.0 as well as the SM-3 Block IB are also significant with regard to the Pentagon’s longer term Aegis Ashore program, referred to as a European Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA).

 

Both of the SM-3 Block IB and the SM-3 Block IIA missiles have a more advanced seeker and more advanced “Throttleable Divert/Attitude Control System (TDACS),” when compared with prior models of the missile such as the SM-3 Block 1A missile.

 

“Once it is ejected from the missile in space, the TDACS points the Kinetic Warhead’s (KW) IR sensor in the expected direction of the incoming ballistic missile, acquires it, and then diverts the KW so as to cause a hit-to-kill collision with the incoming threat missile,” a Navy official explained.

 

The Aegis Ashore plan calls for an effort to build and insert land-based SM-3 Block IB missiles at fixed sites in Romania and Poland, by 2015 and 2017, respectively.

 

The concept is for the “fixed” or land sites to work in tandem with Aegis ships within range in order to widen the BMD protective envelope across wider swaths of the globe, improving protection for the continental U.S. and key U.S. allies, Kilby explained.

 

“Aegis sites ashore and Aegis ships at sea will be connected via satellite data link and share both sensor and engagement data just as when ships are operating together at sea,” he said.

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28 mai 2013 2 28 /05 /mai /2013 16:20
US Navy to name next two Arleigh Burke-class ships

 

28 May 2013 naval-technology.com

 

The US Navy will name its next Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers (DDGs) USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) and USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), navy secretary Ray Mabus has announced.

 

"For decades to come, the future USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will represent the United States and enable the building of partnerships and projection of power around the world," Mabus said.

 

USS Paul Ignatius will be named to honour Paul Ignatius, who served as secretary of the navy from 1967 to 1969 and as assistant secretary of defence under US President Lyndon Johnson, while USS Daniel Inouye will be named to honour former senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.

 

As part of the US Navy's DDG 51-class programme continuation ships, the 509ft-long DDG 117 and DDG 118 ships will support a variety of missions ranging from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection.

 

Capable of conducting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously, the vessels will be armed with weapon control systems, including Mk99 mod 3 missile fire control systems, GWS34 mod 0 gun fire control system and Mk116 mod 7 fire control system for anti-submarine systems.

 

The ships, powered by four GE LM 2500 gas turbines, will have a beam of 59ft and feature Aegis combat system, which combines the ship's sensors and weapons systems to engage anti-ship missile threats, as well as a SPY-1D multi-function phased array radar.

 

 

The ships will also be armed with Raytheon Tomahawk cruise missiles, evolved Sea Sparrow missile (ESSM), Boeing Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles, and Lockheed Martin ASROC vertical launch anti-submarine systems.

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8 avril 2013 1 08 /04 /avril /2013 16:35

rtn11 ids jlens img1

 

April 8, 2013 defense-aerospace.com

(Source: Lexington Institute; issued April 5, 2013)

 

It takes a crisis to concentrate the mind. Faced with unusually bellicose rhetoric from the regime in Pyongyang, the Obama Administration reversed course on National Missile Defense (NMD) and is rapidly bolstering its theater air and missile defenses in the region. The Department of Defense will add 14 ground based interceptor missiles to 30 currently in place at Fort Greeley, Alaska. Two Aegis missile defense capable destroyers have been sent to waters off the Korean peninsula.

 

Equipped with the Standard Missile 3 IA, these ships can provide defense against short to medium range ballistic missiles as well as advanced cueing for the NMD system. In addition, the Army is deploying a THAAD battery to Guam, an obvious potential target for a North Korean missile. In addition, the U.S. has deployed B-2 bombers and F-22 fighters to South Korea as shows of force.

 

Without appearing bellicose, there are additional capabilities that the U.S. could and should send to the region that would provide important intelligence collection and defensive capabilities. One of these is the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS). This is a long-range surveillance system based on two large aerostats that carry radars, one for surveillance and the second to provide very precise intercept data. The aerostats can stay airborne for weeks at a time. Because it operates at a relatively high altitude and carries long-range sensors, JLENS can look out to about 550 km and track hundreds of targets at one time. We are not just talking about ballistic missiles or aircraft.

 

JLENS can track low flying cruise missiles, small boats and even ground vehicles all at the same time. In recent tests, JLENS demonstrated its ability to detect and track simultaneously-launched multiple ballistic missiles during their boost phase and also accurately locate their launch points. This last capability may be particularly important in finding North Korean mobile missile launchers. As a joint program, JLENS was designed from the start to support the missile and air defense operations of all the services. It carries a full array of communications capabilities allowing it to feed data to Army, Navy and Air Force units and platforms.

 

The on again/off again threat from North Korea is not the only danger U.S. and allied forces in the region face. On February 26, a Russian TU-22M Backfire bomber conducted a simulated cruise missile attack on a U.S. destroyer. The next day another practice attack was conducted against a missile defense site on Japanese soil. This is but one of dozens of such “exercises” in which Russian bombers simulate attacks on targets in Japan, NATO and even the continental U.S., on occasion penetrating into national airspace and having to be escorted out by armed fighters. It is beginning to look a lot like the bad old days of the Cold War.

 

Then there is the growing Chinese air and offensive missile threat. This includes hundreds of dual capable medium and intermediate range and ballistic and cruise missiles as well as the new DF-21 anti-ship ballistic missile intended to attack U.S. aircraft carriers. In addition, the PLA Air Force has deployed or has on order around 500 modern fourth-generation fighters and at least two fifth-generation fighters (approximately the equivalent of the F-22 and F-35) under development.

 

It is ironic that the Army is searching so intensely for a role in an Asian-centric U.S. national security strategy. As demonstrated by the decision to accelerate the planned deployment of a THAAD battery to Guam, the Army could have a major role in regional air and missile defense. Deploying JLENS to Guam would be a good first step and purely defensive. If deployed on the Korean Peninsula, JLENS could provide real-time warning and targeting information on the whole array of North Korean offensive threats from small boats to shorter-range ballistic missiles and very early cueing for the U.S. NMD. Also, JLENs is rapidly deployable and very mobile, which should be highly prized by an Army increasingly concerned about executing strategic maneuvers. The Army needs to invest in JLENS as part of a suite of advanced air and missile defense capabilities.

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6 octobre 2011 4 06 /10 /octobre /2011 07:20
Supporting Europe’s Missile defense Initiative, U.S. Navy to Position Four AEGIS ships in Rota, Spain

In March 2011 USS Monterey (CG 61) deployed for a six-month independent deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility. On this voyage, the AEGIS cruiser provided the first ballistic missile defense under the European Phased Adaptive Approach. The cruiser is seen here on one of its Mediterranean port visits in Greece, in May 2011. Photo: U.S. Navy

 

October 6, 2011 by Tamir Eshel - defense-update.com

 

The U.S. Navy is relocating four AEGIS destroyers to be stationed at port of Rota, spain on the Atlantic Ocean coast. “The alliance is significantly boosting combined naval capabilities in the Mediterranean, and enhancing our ability to ensure the security of this vital region.” The move comes just seven months after the Pentagon sent another AEGIS ship, USS Monterey, to the Mediterranean, marking the first of the administration’s four-phase plan to put a missile defense system in Europe by 2018.

 

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta said. These AEGIS ships will support NATO’s missile defense effort, alongside the planned positioning of radar stations and, eventually, land-based AEGIS missile systems in Romania, Poland, and Turkey. “Spain’s decision represents a critical step in implementing the European Phased Adaptive Approach, as our leaders agreed to in Lisbon. For its part, the United States is fully committed to building a missile defense capability for the full coverage and protection of all our NATO European populations, their territory and their forces against the growing threat posed by ballistic missiles.” Panetta added.

 

According to Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, by 2013, Spain would “decisively support a large part of the naval portion” of the [European missile defense] system. The system, the Spanish president added, will have a positive economic impact on Rota, requiring the presence of 1,100 military staff and their families, representing 1,000 jobs.

 

In addition to supporting the new missile defense capability, these Aegis ships will support the Standing NATO Maritime Groups, and maritime security cooperation activities in the Mediterranean Basin and the Atlantic Ocean. The agreement also enables the United States to provide rapid and responsive support to the U.S. Africa and U.S. Central Commands, as needed.

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16 mai 2011 1 16 /05 /mai /2011 11:30

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Flag_of_India.svg/800px-Flag_of_India.svg.png

 

May 15, 2011, THE TIMES OF INDIA

 

NEW DELHI: India has started working on a network of air-defence systems which would be able to shoot down any enemy missile even at a distance of 5,000 kms, before it can enter the Indian air space.

 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has already developed a missile that can intercept an incoming aerial threat 2,000 kms away under the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System and is now working on the second phase.

 

Under the second phase, missiles are being designed and developed in a manner that would enable them to shoot down any incoming missile at a distance of 5,000 kms, DRDO chief V K Saraswat said here.

 

The 5,000 kms interceptor missile is targeted to be ready by 2016, he said.

 

"It is well on schedule and we are already on initial design and testing stage," Saraswat said.

 

"Presently, our missiles are designed to engage targets within 2,000 km range. Later on, we will be making 5,000 km range class of interceptor missiles. That will be Phase-II of the BMD system," he added.

 

Last July, DRDO successfully tested the Phase-I of the indigenously developed interceptor missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Wheeler Island off Orissa coast.

 

On possibility of any tie-up with the US or any other country for development of the BMD systems, Saraswat said, "Our process of international collaboration is only to accelerate our own development process. Whenever we feel the need of a new technology, we may go for collaborations."

 

On the US offering India the Aegis Missile Defence Systems, he said, "These are market forces and will always remain there. There would always be market forces trying to sell the available equipment. In India this is not just a R&D effort but an actual programme, so I don't think we should worry about this."

 

India is also developing the Long Range Tracking Radar (LRTR) for the BMD systems. While the radars used for the Phase-I experiments were built with equal partnership from Israel, the Phase-II will have 80 per cent indigenous component.

 

"Only some of the equipments and consultancy would be provided by Israel," Saraswat said.

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