The Pentagon has successfully conducted a sea-based missile defense test with a newly upgraded version of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system and its latest missile interceptor.
The Missile Defense Agency along with the Navy carried out the test over the Pacific Ocean early Thursday morning EST. A Raytheon [RTN]-built Standard Missile-3 was launched from the USS Lake Erie (CG-70) Ticonderoga-class cruiser and struck the target missile that took off from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, Hawaii.
“The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space, as designated by the fire control solution, and released its kinetic warhead,” the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said. “The kinetic warhead acquired the target, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the threat in a hit-to-kill intercept.”
It was the first test of Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] upgraded Aegis BMD 4.0.1 system that is at the cornerstone of sea-based missile defense. It was also the first successful test involving the SM-3 Block 1B version of the Raytheon missile, which missed the target during a test in September.
Raytheon spokeswoman Heather Uberuaga said the company resolved an issue with the SM-3 1B following that test failure and it registered a “flawless performance” in this week’s flight.
“An issue was identified and resolved very quickly,” she said.
MDA spokesman Rick Lehner said the agency is still investigating the exact cause of the September miss but felt sufficiently comfortable to go forward with the latest test.
Thursday morning marked the 22nd time in 27 tries that the Aegis BMD program scored a hit in testing. Aegis BMD is at the heart of the Obama administration’s missile defense plan for Europe known as the European Phased Adaptive Approach, which calls for defending the continent with the sea-based system and later extending it to land. “Aegis ashore” is scheduled to be deployed in Romania in 2015.
The Aegis BMD 4.0.1 the SM-3 Block 1B upgrades enhance the system’s ability to engage longer range and more sophisticated ballistic missile, MDA said.
Lockheed Martin said the second generation 4.0.1 Aegis version contains a new signal processor for improving target identification. The configuration is operational on two Navy ships, the company said.
Most of the Navy fleet of Ticonderoga-class (CG-47) cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers equipped with the Aegis BMD system deploy the 3.6.1 version and the SM-3 Block IA interceptor missile.
The new Block 1B missile features a two-color infrared seeker that improves sensitivity for longer-range target acquisition and high-speed processing for target discrimination. It also has an upgraded onboard signal processor and a more flexible throttle control to maneuver it to the target.
The test follows the March certification of the Aegis BMD 4.0.1 system.
Lockheed Martin is also set to upgrade the cruisers and destroyers with the Multi-Mission Signal Processor (MMSP), which will effectively combine the Aegis Combat System for theater air warfare with Aegis BMD, allowing the vessels to carry out both missions.
The USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) and USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) will be the first two vessels to be upgraded with the MMSP later this year, and the John Finn (DDG-113) will be first new ship to arrive in the fleet with the new capability, Lockheed Martin has said.