:

Missile Defense

New Standard Missile-3 Variant Completes First Target Intercept

By Marc Selinger

Monday, February 6th, 2017

SHARE:

New Standard Missile-3 Variant Completes First Target Intercept

The USS John Paul Jones launches a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA interceptor during a missile defense test. (Courtesy of U.S. Missile Defense Agency)

The Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA, a new, longer-range variant of the SM-3 interceptor, has achieved its first shoot-down of a ballistic missile target, according to the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and its industry partners.During a Feb. 3 test, a medium-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, at 10:30 p.m. local time. The USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53), a destroyer positioned northwest of the range and equipped with the latest…

Budget

Hegseth Pushes For Reconciliation With At Least $350 Billion For Defense ‘Regardless’ Of Midterms Outcome

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the Trump administration plans to continue its push for at least $350 billion in defense funds via the reconciliation process “regardless of what happens […]

Congress

Bipartisan Push in Senate to Hasten Export of 155 mm, GMLRS, HIMARS for Ukraine

A small, bipartisan group of senators is backing the Fast Tracking European Investment in Ukraine’s Defense Act, S. 5175, to hasten the export of allied buys of U.S. munitions for […]

Congress

Rep. Himes Signals Increased Contractor Oversight, if Democrats Win House

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, plans to increase the committee’s contractor oversight if the Democrats win control of the House […]

Congress

CBO Estimates Loss of One-Half to Two-Thirds of U.S. Missile Interceptors Since June Last Year

A new Congressional Budget Office report estimates the cost of the Iran war through Aug. 1 as $38 billion and says that the U.S. has likely depleted between one-half and […]