The Pentagon has conducted a successful test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system by firing two Standard Missile (SM) interceptors to take out a complex, separating short-range ballistic missile target, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said.
The flight took place in the evening Washington time on Sept. 18 over the Pacific Ocean with the launching of the target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii.
Sailors aboard the USS Lake Erie (CG-70,), a Ticonderoga-class cruiser, tracked the target using the AN/SPY-1 radar. Aegis developed a fire control solution and launched the two SM-3 block 1B missiles. The first SM-3 struck the target.
MDA said it marked the first salvo mission of two SM-3 1Bs against a single separating target, and was a successful test for the second-generation Aegis BMD system.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for Aegis, Raytheon [RTN] for the SM. MDA said the upgraded Aegis system is capable of engaging longer range and more sophisticated ballistic missiles. It also marked the fourth successful test of the SM-3 1B following a failure on the first test in September 2011.
Overall, it was 27th successful intercept for Aegis in 33 attempts dating back to 2002.
The test was also the second successful one for MDA in less than two weeks. On Sept. 9, the agency demonstrated that the Aegis system and the Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system were capable of working together in a combined test against two simultaneous threats. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for THAAD.