Sea-Based Aegis Intercept Attempt Successful against Ship-Launched Missile
June 5, 2008 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The Aegis missile defense system today demonstrated a significant capability against the threat of ship-launched ballistic missiles with the successful intercept of a target missile fired not from land but from another ship. The test, designated FTM-14, was the fourteenth successful intercept by the Aegis system in sixteen attempts, and the second successful attempt in the terminal phase, that is, in the last few seconds of the missile's descent, by the SM-2 Block IV interceptor. At 8:13 am local time, the short range target missile was fired from "a mobile launch platform" 300 miles west of the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The Aegis system aboard the USS Lake Erie detected the missile and fired two interceptors. Two minutes later, the interceptors destroyed the missile some 12 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 100 miles west-northward of Kauai.
The sea-based Aegis system is one of the most robust and successful missile defense systems under development. Its mobile capability makes the sea-based system a major component of an overall layered defense against missile threats. Today's test is doubly significant for the threat posed by ballistic missiles launched against U.S. cities from ships lying off an American coast. Rogue states do not need long- or even medium-range missile capability to pose such a threat. Among others, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has noted that rogue states have in fact tested ballistic missiles from sea-based platforms such as freighters. The ship-launched threat, the so-called "Scud in a bucket" scenario, illustrates a much more immediate threat to the United States and its allies than an ICBM fired against the United States by Iran and North Korea. The range of both Shahab and Taepo-Dong missiles is more than adequate to use against the United States or other countries in such a configuration. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Ship-Launched Threat, Testing - American, Sea-Based Systems
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U.S. Aborts Aegis Test
December 8, 2006 :: Forbes :: News
An “incorrect system setting” caused the shutdown of two Standard Missile-3 interceptor launches in yesterday’s aborted test of the Aegis sea-based missile defense system. According to Missile Defense Agency spokesman Chris Taylor, a dummy enemy ballistic missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, simulating a missile attack on U.S. territory, while a shorter-range missile was fired from a Navy aircraft and aimed at the Aegis cruiser U.S.S. Lake Erie. After the target missiles were launched, a computer configuration problem occurred aboard the Lake Erie, grounding the first SM-3 interceptor missile. Officials halted the second SM-3 shortly thereafter. Both target missiles dropped harmlessly into the ocean. Out of the nine total tests of the Aegis system, seven have been successful. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
U.S. and Japan Plan New SM-3 Maintenance Base
December 6, 2006 :: News
The U.S. and Japan plan to build a joint base in the Nagasaki Prefecture for the maintenance of Standard Missile-3 interceptors, reports the UPI. According to sources in the Japanese Defense Agency, the facility would be located on a filled-in area off the coast near the U.S. Navy’s Hariojima ammunition depot in Sasebo. The U.S. and Japan would each maintain their own missiles, although the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (MSDF) would be able to ask the U.S. military for technical assistance if it encountered problems, allowing it to minimize costs. The SM-3, which the U.S. Navy and Japan’s MSDF plan to deploy on Aegis warships, is capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles in space at altitudes of 200 to 300 km. (Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
WSJ on Sea-Based X-Band Radar
November 29, 2006 :: The Wall Street Journal :: News
Jonathan Karp in The Wall Street Journal recently profiled the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), an advanced radar system mounted on a semi-submersible oil-drilling rig that is able to track, discriminate, and assess incoming ballistic missiles. “Shrouded in a 10-story-high dome,” Karp writes, “the SBX radar sits atop the semi-submersible oil rig like a giant golf ball on a tee. The Teflon-coated, Kevlar-like fabric of the inflated dome is designed to withstand winds up to 150 miles an hour. Inside, the radar soars toward the roof, its octagonal face covering 4,100 square feet.” The SBX, built by Raytheon, contains 45,000 electronic modules that transmit and receive data, he notes. It can send multiple beams in different directions, changing their aim in fractions of a second, which allows the radar to track several objects at once and compensate for the rig’s movement in ocean swells.
Karp describes the program’s many high-tech breakthroughs. He notes that the SBX can “track a baseball hurtling through space at 15,000 miles an hour,” produce detailed images of incoming warheads, and “distinguish a decoy from the real McCoy.” The system is also highly mobile and can be deployed close to perceived threats, thus gaining precious time for U.S. interceptors to destroy incoming missiles. At the same time, Karp also describes a series of “technical snafus” surrounding the semi-submersible oil-drilling rig carrying the radar. In March 2006, a leaky valve caused water to flood into the SBX’s pontoon, forcing the rig to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. In June, an electrical fault tripped circuit breakers, stranding the SBX in port for two more weeks of repairs. If all had gone according to plan, the SBX would be already deployed off the Aleutian Islands in Alaska ready to defend against threats from North Korea. Instead, the system remains in Hawaii, 2,000 km and many months away from its final destination, he writes.
The radar, however, was performing well enough that the Pentagon used the SBX to monitor North Korea’s missile launch in July 2006. The Pentagon then delayed the system’s preparations for Alaska again so that the radar could participate in the September 1 ground-based interceptor test, the most important U.S. test to date. During this test, a target missile was fired from Alaska was destroyed by an interceptor missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Floating off the California coast, SBX successfully tracked both missiles and their warheads as they collided. Brigadier General Patrick O’Reilly, who now oversees the ground-based missile-defense program, referred to the test as a “watershed event,” because it demonstrated that SBX could do its job once integrated into the missile shield’s command structure. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Detection and Tracking, Sea-Based Systems
U.S. Navy Receives 100th Aegis Weapon System
November 28, 2006 :: Spacewar.com :: News
Lockheed Martin yesterday delivered the 100th Aegis Weapon System to the U.S. Navy, marking a major milestone in the world’s premier sea-based multi-mission combat system. The destroyer receiving the system will be named Wayne E. Meyer, after the retired rear admiral who is widely regarded as the “Father of Aegis.” At present, the Aegis system is deployed on 80 ships around the globe with more than 25 additional ships planned or under contract. The Aegis Weapon System is the foundation for the Aegis sea-based ballistic missile defense system, which integrates Standard Missile-3 interceptors, the MK 41 Vertical Launching System, the SPY-1 radar, and the weapon system’s command and control system. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Four U.S. Aegis Ships to Gain SM-3 Interceptors
November 27, 2006 :: Kyodo :: News
The U.S. plans to install Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor on four of its Aegis-equipped warships deployed in Japan in an effort to boost regional missile defense following North Korea’s nuclear test. According to U.S. officials, two of the four ships will be refitted and deployed in the spring of 2007 at the earliest, followed by the other two. The plan would bring the total number of U.S. warships equipped with SM-3 interceptors to five. The cruiser Shiloh, which already has the system, was deployed to the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture in August 2006. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Allies, Japan, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Japanese Ballistic Missile Defense
Russia to Dismantle Five Nuclear Submarines by 2010
September 13, 2006 :: RIA-Novosti :: News
Russia will dismantle five nuclear-powered Victor-class (Type 671) submarines from its Pacific Fleet by 2010, reports RIA-Novosti. The vessels are being scrapped under the joint Russian-Japanese Star of Hope Program for Dismantling Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines, which was adopted in 2003 when Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Russia. Deputy Foreign Minister Shintaro Ito told a news conference in Vladivostok yesterday that the dismantling of the first Victor-class submarine will begin at the Zvezda Shipyard, in a suburb of Vladivostok, and will take about 10 months. During the dismantlement process, spent nuclear fuel will be removed from the submarine’s reactors and sent to storage, the hull will be cut into three sections, and the bow and stern sections will be removed and destroyed. The reactor section will be sealed and transferred to storage. Japan has allocated 20 billion yen ($171 million) for the project, according to Ito.
The nuclear-powered Victor-class submarines are believed to have entered service in the Soviet Union around 1967, and were primarily designed to protect Soviet surface fleets and to attack U.S. ballistic missile submarines. Most were armed with torpedoes as well as SS-N-15 or SS-N-21 cruise missiles. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Cruise Missiles, Japan, Russia, Sea-Based Systems
Aegis BMD Gains Fleet Certification
September 12, 2006 :: Lockheed Martin :: News
The U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have certified the latest version of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system for tactical deployment. The upgraded system, known as Aegis BMD 3.6 and carrying the Standard Missile-3 Block IA interceptor missile, enhances the ballistic missile defense capabilities of the current fleet of Aegis destroyers and cruisers. The new system was most recently tested on June 22, 2006, when it successfully destroyed a separating target launched atop a three-stage medium-range ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean. The test marked the seventh time (out of eight attempts) that MDA had successfully shot down a target missile with a ship-launched interceptor, and the second time that Aegis had successfully intercepted a separating warhead. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Policy, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Israel Buys Upgraded Nuclear-Capable Submarines
August 23, 2006 :: AFP :: News
Israel has signed a contract with Germany to buy two submarines capable of carrying nuclear weapons, reports the AFP. The new Dolphin-class submarines, called U212s, will be assembled by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG in Germany, and will be bought by Israel for $1.27 billion, a third of which will be financed by the German government. The state-of-the-art submarines will be fitted with an advanced propulsion system allowing them to remain underwater far longer than submarines already in use by the Israeli navy. Each U212 carries a crew of 35, has a range of 4,500 kilometers (2,810 miles), and can launch cruise missiles carrying nuclear warheads. The report of the purchase came one day after Rafi Eitan, an Israeli cabinet minister, warned that Israel should prepare for a ballistic missile attack by Iran. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Israel, Nuclear Weapons, Sea-Based Systems
U.S. to Accelerate Aegis Deployment in Pacific
August 17, 2006 :: Reuters :: News
The Pentagon plans to double its number of Aegis-equipped warships in the Pacific from three to six by the end of 2006, reports Reuters. The move was announced today by Rear Admiral Alan Hicks, program manager for the Aegis ballistic missile defense program. All three new warships will carry the specialized Aegis combat system, as well as Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missiles. The UPI notes that Raytheon on Wednesday received a $266 million contract to speed up deployment of the SM-3. The interceptors are capable of shooting down short- and medium-range North Korean missiles, although they are not capable of destroying longer-range threats such as the Taep’o-dong 2. The U.S. and Japan, however, are co-developing an advanced model interceptor, dubbed SM-3 Block 2 and scheduled for deployment by 2015, which will be able to defend against these longer-range missiles. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Deployment, North Korea, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
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