The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency has conducted a successful test of the sea-based missile defense system, scoring the second intercept in the last two months with an upgraded Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system and the latest interceptor.
The Missile Defense Agency along with the Navy carried out the test over the Pacific Ocean. The USS Lake Erie (CG-70) Ticonderoga-class cruiser launched the Raytheon [RTN]-built Block 1B version of the Standard Missile-3 in response to the firing of the target from the Pacific Missile Range in Kauai, Hawaii.
“Initial indications are that all components performed as designed resulting in a very accurate intercept,” the MDA said.
It was the second test of Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] upgraded Aegis BMD 4.0.1 system that is at the cornerstone of sea-based missile defense. The first one took place May 9, which also marked the first success with the SM-3 Block 1B. That missile missed the target during its first test in September.
“This is the second of three Aegis BMD tests this year–all of which will evaluate enhanced capabilities and functions of the system within increasingly challenging scenarios,” Nick Bucci, Lockheed Martin’s director of BMD development programs, said.
The Missile Defense Agency said it was the 23rd successful intercept of the Aegis BMD program out of 28 tries.
Aegis BMD is at the center 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 upgrades enhance the system’s ability to engage longer range and more sophisticated ballistic missile, MDA has said. Lockheed Martin has 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 Aegis BMD 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.
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 this year, and the John Finn (DDG-113) will be first new ship to arrive in the fleet with the new capability.