By Carlo Munoz
A new ground variant of Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] premiere ballistic missile defense system could be in place in Eastern Europe by 2015, as part of the Obama administration’s plan to stand up such capabilities in the region, according to a senior company official.
The Aegis Ashore system, a land-based version of the company’s successful ship-based Aegis BMD platform, has already cleared a critical development milestone and is poised to undergo some “pretty significant design reviews” beginning this year, Lisa Callahan, the company’s vice president of maritime BMD programs, said during a Jan. 5 teleconference with reporters.
Navy and industry program officials completed the system requirements review for Aegis Ashore late last year, with system design review for the program slated for February, she said. If successful, program officials plan to conduct the critical design review for the weapons system in the following fiscal quarter, Callahan added.
“All of that will culminate in a test system for Aegis Ashore that will be in Hawaii in 2013 and the first Aegis Ashore capability in Romania in 2015,” according to Callahan.
The BMD chief did not elaborate on the details regarding the Romanian deployment of Aegis Ashore, but did note the 2015 time line meets the criteria for the second phase of the Pentagon’s European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) for missile defense.
Based on recommendations by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, President Obama approved the plan in September 2009.
“This phased approach develops the capability to augment our current protection of the U.S. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats, and to offer more effective defenses against more near-term ballistic missile threats,” according to a White House statement issued at the time of the plan’s approval.
With progress continuing on the Aegis Ashore effort, program officials are also making headway on the latest iterations of the sea-based version of the BMD system.
The newest iteration of the sea-based version of the system–Aegis 5.0–successfully completed ground and sea drills in late 2010, she said. Those tests focused on the platform’s ability to seek and track short, medium and long-range intermediate ballistic missiles, according to Callahan.
Lockeed Martin officials also upped the number of cruisers and destroyers outfitted with Aegis 4.0.1, the precursor to Aegis 5.0, along with four Japanese destroyers last year. This year, Callahan anticipated adding another three ships to that Aegis fleet, lifting the total number of ships in the fleet armed with the system to 24.
Further, the company is also nearly 65 percent complete with its Aegis Destroyer modification program (ACB 12), with plans to enter into a “heavy integration and test phase” culminating in a “multi-mission test event” at the end of this year, she said.