By Carlo Munoz
With the successful shootdown of a ballistic missile target over the Pacific by the Navy’s premiere ship-based ballistic missile defense system, the Missile Defense Agency cleared a major milestone in the White House’s European missile defense strategy.
In the early morning hours of April 15, a Raytheon [RTN]-built SM-3 Block IA missile interceptor was launched from an Aegis BMD system on board the USS O’Kane (DDG-77) and was able to find, track and destroy the intermediate-range target fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, according to an MDA statement. Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for the Aegis BMD system.
The exercise demonstrated the necessary capabilities to support the first phase of the Obama administration’s European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) for ballistic missile defense, according to the MDA statement.
Based on recommendations by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, President Barack Obama approved the EPAA in September 2009.
The first phase of the plan focuses on a number of ship-based Aegis BMD systems equipped with the SM-Block IA missile. Those ships will be stationed throughout the European theater provide intercept capability against potential missile threats.
The second phase will focus on land-based versions of the Aegis system, dubbed Aegis Ashore, deployed with the next-generation Block IB version of the SM-3.
The coordinates of the missile target shot down during the April 15 test were picked up by Raytheon’s AN/TPY-2 X-band radar, stationed away from the O’Kane on nearby Wake Island, according to a company statement.
“The target information was relayed through the command, control, battle management and communications system to an Aegis ship,” it stated. “By leveraging off-board sensors, the SM-3 Block IA engaged the [target].”
While program officials had previously conducted several successful intercepts using this remote launch capability, this is the first time that remote launch had been completed against an intermediate-range target, Frank Wyatt, vice president of Raytheon’s Air and Missile Defense Systems, told reporters during a conference call that same day.
Last week’s shootdown, according to Wyatt, represented the “graduation exercise” for the SM-3 Block 1A system, adding that the system configuration tested during the drill will be the one fielded as part of the first phase of the EPAA.
“That capability is already present on the USS Monterey (CG-61) that is already on deployment,” Wyatt said. “That capability is deployed now.” To that end, the Raytheon missile chief noted that the Navy has set aside funds for 20 additional SM-3 IA missiles as part of the recently-approved fiscal year 2011 budget plan.
That said, program officials are now turning their focus toward getting the 1B version of the missile ready for testing and qualification for the second phase of the EPAA, according to Wyatt. Program officials hope to have the missile ready for testing by this summer, with that first test being a ship-based intercept shot, Wyatt said.
However, since the crux of the follow-on phase of the European BMD plan will be focused on Aegis ashore systems, the test program will eventually evolve into land-based test shots, he added.