March 4, 2004 :: Lockheed Martin :: News
A Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor successfully destroyed a mock tactical ballistic missile, known as a “Patriot-As-A-Target” (PAAT), during a test at the White Sands Missile Range. Two PAC-3 interceptors were “ripple fired”—that is, fired one after another, a few seconds apart, both independently tracking the incoming target and homing in on it. The first interceptor destroyed the target, in this case likely a modified PAC-2, which had been made to simulate a SCUD short range missile. The second missile subsequently self-destructed.
The highly successful PAC-3 interceptor has performed in the recent Iraq war, and will now also be used for the MEADS defense system.
Inside Missile Defense reports, with confirmation from Lockheed Martin, that the test also met other mission objectives including PAC-3’s missile segment software and ground system improvements, the system’s capability to intercept and kill a short-range, full-body theater ballistic missile target, and the successful execution of the PAC-3 missile seeker with a “domestic source” Traveling Wave Tube, which serves as the Ka-band radar seeker’s high power amplifier.
(Article)» MDA press release on PAC-3 intercept
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
