Raytheon’s [RTN] Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) successfully detected and tracked tactical ballistic missile (TBM) surrogates for the first time during recent tests, a company official said.
Tests on Dec. 6 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., demonstrated the JLENS was successful in four out of four tests against surrogate tactical ballistic missiles, adding to the system’s capabilities or detecting and tracking air and surface targets, said Mark Rose, Raytheon’s JLENS program director in a teleconference yesterday.
This most recent test, “Another successful test for the JLENS system, once again shows, in my opinion, the JLENS is ready to go into action,” he said. “The tests further confirm the program is maturing, reliable, cost effective and ready to go.”
Next stop for JLENS is an operational evaluation expected to be conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., he said.
Worldwide, the ballistic missile threat continues to grow, and the Missile Defense Agency estimates there are more than “6,000 ballistic missiles outside of the U.S. and near allies…clearly a threat to our national security,” Rose said.
The first day of the test, JLENS was successful as two surrogate TBMs were ripple fired from a tactically representative range, he said. The JLENS picked the missiles up in the ascent phase–while the motors were still firing–and quickly calculated the launch point. The system tracked the missiles from the ascent phase throughout their flight.
The second day featured two separate launches fired about an hour apart. Again, JLENS picked up the TBM in the ascent phase, calculated launch points and tracked the missiles throughout their flight.
For a combatant commander, Rose said, for example, during Desert Storm, when Scud missiles were fired and then their trucks moved off, JLENS could not only track the Scud, estimate its launch point, but then track the launch truck as it moved.
These most recent tests show that “JLENS has persistence, affordability and capabilities that will help our warfighters when they get to an operational scenario,” Rose said.
To date, the system has successfully detected and tracked cars, trucks, boats, planes and other drone-like targets, and swarming boats with the two systems that have successfully completed tests over the past year and a half. One system is in Utah, the other at White Sands. JLENS aided a Patriot missile system test intercept a cruise missile in Utah, while JLENS aided an Aegis system in White Sands against a cruise missile.
Each JLENS system, called an orbit, consists of two 74-meter aerostats that fly at about 10,000 feet and stay up about 30 days at a time, he said. One aerostat is a surveillance system; one is a fire control system.
The Missile Defense Agency was not involved in the Dec. 6 test, though is “certainly aware” of the test, Rose said. Raytheon is talking to the agency about how JLENS might fit into its missile defense architecture, but there are no plans to incorporate the system at this time.
JLENS has demonstrated its ability to intercommunicate with various Army, Navy and Air Force systems, Rose said. During a developmental test last year, the system communicated over Link-16, Cooperative Engagement Capability, the Integrated Broadcast System, the Joint Range Extension Applications Protocol, and the Army Battle Command System.
The test was funded by the Army.