Blimps Considered for Layered BMD Architecture
October 22, 2003 :: MSNBC :: News
The MDA recently awarded a 40 million dollar contract to Lockheed to design solar-powered blimps which would be a part of a layered missile defense architecture. Some twenty-five times larger than those used by Goodyear, the umanned blimps with a payload capacity of two tons would remain at high altitude (65,000 ft) for up to several months at a time, for the purposes of identifying and tracking any missile launch. A prototype is expected to be completed in 2006.
Innovative efforts such as these should of course be encouraged. Serious strategic defenses demand a layered system, and air-based systems such as sensors and the air-borne laser (ABL)—both designed to complement a boost-phase interception, when the missile is the most vulnerable, should be given a role within such a system. While this sort of tracking system has certain unique mobility advantages, however, it also seems to be something of a half-hearted effort, one which works within the mainstream aversion to space-based defenses. Similar tracking systems placed in orbit would of course have a greater field of view than any craft at high altitude, and orbiting lasers would be able to intercept missiles much earlier in their ascent. Space-based defenses would also be much less susceptible to conventional attack. Similarly, the air-borne laser also has range limitations of several hundred kilometers, a distance far shorter than most ballistic missile’s paths. These systems, to be effective, would certainly have to be in the right place at the right time, and progress in these directions should not distract from the need for space-based defenses. (Article, Link)
» Former Director of SDIO Abrahamson assisting in ambitious blimp program
» More stories on: Air, Technology, Testing - American
GMD Booster Test Successful
August 16, 2003 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
Saturday’s test of a booster for the ground-based missile defense system was successful. The test launch, which took place from Vandenburg Air Force Base, did not involve an intercept attempt, but was only for the booster itself. More tests are planned for this fall.
The GMD system will be based in Fort Greely, with 16 planned interceptors. These are the interceptors which would carry the EKV, which employs “hit-to-kill” technology. There are also plans for another four interceptors based in California, at Vandenburg. This is part of the limited system the Bush administration has said will be deployed by late 2004. The system is limited, in that while it would defend against a few missiles launched from far away, such as from North Korea, it could not defend from either a large number of missiles such as would be launched from Russia or Communist China, or any number of short-range missiles launched from close by, such as from a ship off our coast. The GMD system nevertheless provides an important foundation for a more robust and layered system which would include defenses based on land, sea, and in space. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Fort Bliss to Test New “Patriot Lite”
July 23, 2003 :: El Paso Times :: News
The Fort Bliss Army Base in Texas is set to test the latest configuration of the Patriot terminal defense interceptors. This “next phase” of the system is said to be smaller, more agile, and quicker to set up in the field. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Patriot
Bush Pushes for New Generation of Smaller, Cleaner Nuclear Weapons
July 6, 2003 :: USA Today :: News
Coupled to the idea that defenses against nuclear attack are necessary is the idea that nuclear war is possible. A new, smaller and cleaner, generation of nuclear weapons weapons is necessary to a credible, because usable, deterrent. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Nuclear Weapons, Technology, Testing - American
Sea Based Missile Test Fails for First Time
June 18, 2003 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
After successfully intercepting its targeted missile in its first three tests, the Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy reported that the SMC-3 sea-based interceptor mounted on an Aegis cruiser failed to complete an intercept in its fourth and latest test. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Sea-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Bush Statement: Missile Defenses to be Deployed by 2004-2005
December 17, 2002 :: The White House :: News
The White House issued a statement by the president announcing that he had ordered the Department of Defense to deploy missile defenses by 2004-2005. (Article, Link)
» DoD Press Release, outlining deployment
» DoD Deployment briefing
» More stories on: Policy, Testing - American
Successful GMD Test
March 15, 2002 :: Department of Defense :: News
The Missile Defense Agency reports the fourth successful test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Segment, in the most complex missile defense test to date. At 9:11pm Saturday, a modified Minuteman ICBM was launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, fired out into the Pacific. Twenty minutes later, a prototype interceptor was launched from the Ronald Reagan missile site on the Marshall Islands, some 4,800 miles away. The interceptor destroyed the missile in midcourse at 9:40, over 140 miles above the earth.
Like the sea-based test of January 25, this test also used an exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV), destroying the target warhead by impact alone. In this test, the interceptor distinguished the target from three decoy balloons. (A previous test had involved only one decoy.) The test also demonstrated the complete integration of space- and ground-based sensors and radars, including a prototype of the X-band radar. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
