July 20, 2005 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system recently underwent a test of its radars, designed to determine their ability to track and detect objects. The radar successfully acquired, tracked, and classified two Orion missile targets. In the first attempt, the radar acquired and tracked both the inbound expended booster and the separated re-entry vehicle. The command, control, battle management and communications system then launched a simulated interceptor and provided acquisition and intercept support plan data to the radar. During the second target launch, the THAAD radar acquired, tracked and classified an inbound unitary missile.
The MDA press release describes the THAAD radar “as the largest, most powerful mobile radar in the world” that is “capable of search, self-queuing, threat detection and object classification at extremely long ranges. It communicates with the THAAD interceptor missile to provide in-flight target updates.”
The test took place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on June 17, 2005. It was the eighth test of the radar tracking a ballistic missile target, and all test objectives were met. (Article)
» Missile system details for: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
