The land version of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile System planned for installation in Europe has completed its first test firing of a Standard Missile interceptor against a simulated target, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

An SM-3 1B launching off a Navy cruiser in Oct. 2013.
An SM-3 1B launching off a Navy cruiser in Oct. 2013.

The Pentagon is developing the Aegis Ashore system as part of NATO’s overall missile defense plan for Europe, with the first ground system set for deployment in Romania next year. The

Raytheon [RTN]-built SM-3 1B version of the Standard Missile will be the cornerstone interceptor for Aegis Ashore and is already operating on Navy destroyers and cruisers for the long standing sea-component of the system.

SM-3IB took its first flight with Aegis Ashore at 1:35 a.m. EDT Wednesday at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii when it took on a simulated ballistic missile threat detected, tracked and engaged by the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built Aegis, which includes the SPY-1 radar.

“The primary purpose of the test…was to confirm the functionality of Aegis Ashore by launching a land-based SM-3,” the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency said.

The Pentagon plans to conduct the first test of Aegis Ashore with an SM-3 1B in mid-2015 ahead going operational with the Romania site later in the year, according to Raytheon and Lockheed Martin executives.

Bob Nussmeier, Raytheon’s program director of the SM-3 1B, said the data from the simulated test was still being evaluated but initial indications showed the missile “would have engaged the target” had there been a real one.

The test also marked the first time the upgraded version of Aegis known as baseline nine fired an SM-31B, said Brendon Scanlon, Lockheed Martin’s director for Aegis Ashore.

Aegis Ashore is the second phase of the Obama administration and NATO’s European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) missile defense plan for the continent adopted at the alliance’s 2010 summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The first phase consists of the deployment four U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers equipped with Aegis to Rota, Spain. A second Aegis Ashore system is expected to be deployed in Poland in 2018.

The SM-3 1B is currently in low-rate production, but it is scheduled to go into full-rate production next year once cleared by the Pentagon, Nussmeier said.

The SM-31B has completed five consecutive, successful sea-based intercepts in space after failing in its first attempt in 2011.

The first Aegis Ashore unit going to Romania is one that has existed at a Lockheed Martin facility in Moorestown, New Jersey for years. The company recently completed disassembling the site and is preparing to ship it and its components to the Eastern European country in the months ahead, Scanlon said. Construction in Romania could begin by the end of 2014, he said.