Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
August 29, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Aegis Ship-Based BMD
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Sea |
Details
Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (Aegis BMD) will provide an efficient and highly mobile sea-based defense against short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase.
The system will integrate the U.S. Navy’s existing fleet of Aegis cruisers (Ticonderoga class) and Aegis destroyers (Arleigh Burke class) with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor currently under development. The system will allow the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to move its defense capabilities close to enemy launch sites, thus providing a critical “layer” to the broader Ballistic Missile Defense System.
At present, each Aegis cruiser and destroyer is outfitted with the Aegis Weapon System—the heart of which is the AN/SPY-1 radar system. AN/SPY-1 sends out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions, thus allowing Aegis ships to track up to 100 targets simultaneously, while still retaining the ability to counter other air, surface, and submarine threats. AN/SPY-1 will be able to detect ballistic missiles as they rise above the horizon.
Once a hostile missile has been detected, Aegis BMD will launch its Standard Missile-3 interceptor from its MK41 Vertical Launching System (currently deployed on Aegis cruisers and destroyers). An evolution of the SM-2 Block IV interceptor, the SM-3 is a hit-to-kill missile comprised of a three-stage booster with a kill vehicle. As the SM-3 burns through its three stages, its GPS-Aided Inertial Navigation System will set it on an intercept trajectory with the hostile missile. SM-3 will also receive target updates from the Aegis destroyer.
Once close enough to the ballistic missile, the SM-3 will fire its kill vehicle, the Kinetic Warhead (KW), from its nosecone. The KW will immediately begin to search for its target. It will acquire the ballistic missile using a high-resolution seeker, and maintain an accurate trajectory using its internal navigational system. As it closes on its target, the KW will identify the missile’s payload, and shift its aimpoint to ensure a lethal hit. When the KW finally slams into the enemy warhead, the kinetic energy of the high velocity impact will ensure complete destruction of the threat.
Since 1999, MDA has conducted five SM-3 flight tests. Four have been successful. The most recent test was on December 11, 2003, when a SM-3 from the Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie tracked, targeted, and destroyed a short-range target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. Impact occurred at an altitude of 137 kilometers and a closing speed of approximately 3.7 kilometers per second. The entire operation, from detection to destruction, took four minutes.
President George W. Bush recently called on MDA to deploy a preliminary defense shield—including sea-based assets. In September 2004, the Navy will deploy an Aegis destroyer in the Sea of Japan capable of detecting and tracking missile launches from North Korea and China. In the event of a hostile launch, the destroyer will be able to transmit data to ten ground-based interceptors located in Fort Greely in Alaska and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California (also scheduled for deployment in September 2004).
In 2005, the first fully operational Aegis BMD system will be deployed on an Aegis destroyer. MDA will conduct rigorous tests, using this initial deployment to integrate the AN/SPY-1 with SM-3 and improve the accuracy of the interceptor. In 2006, the Navy will deploy nine Aegis ships outfitted with SM-3 missiles and configured to carry out ballistic missile defense operations from almost anywhere in the world.
During this initial deployment phase, Aegis BMD will provide a cost effective means of countering emerging threats from rogue nations and terrorists. The United States has already invested $50 billion in its cruisers and destroyers alone, and the additional cost of outfitting these ships with SM-3s is relatively small compared with that of developing new air-based, land-based, and space-based systems. Although the Navy will eventually need more ships over time to handle its regular duties, in the interim Aegis BMD will serve as an excellent stopgap measure.
MDA’s long-term goal is to transform Aegis BMD into a comprehensive missile defense system capable of destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), possibly in their boost phase. As MDA improves its layered missile defense system, Aegis BMD will be able to integrate its tracking system with other new BMD tracking systems such as Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) satellites, the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), or the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX). Although many consider the SM-3 too slow to intercept ICBMs, some believe that these enhanced detection and tracking capabilities will allow Aegis BMD to launch its interceptors earlier, thus allowing the SM-3s to reach long-range targets.
MDA and the Navy are also considering the development of a larger and faster interceptor missile.
Sources
Arms Control Association.
England, Gordon R. Remarks at the National Missile Defense Conference. Ronald Reagan Center, Washington, D.C., 22 March 2004.
Erwin, Sandra I. “Navy Prepares to Put Aegis Ships ‘On Alert.’” National Defense Magazine, March 2004.
GlobalSecurity.org.
Missile Defense Agency.
Raytheon Company.
Selinger, Marc. “Aegis on Tract for 2004 Missile Defense, Company Says.” Aerospace Daily, 13 January 2004.
U.S. Department of Defense. “Aegis Miss Test Successful.” Press Release 938-03, 11 December 2003.
Sea-Based Aegis Intercept Attempt Successful against Ship-Launched Missile
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.
» More stories on: Ship-Launched Threat, Testing - American, Sea-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
SM-2 Flight Tests Successful
The U.S. Navy's guided missile destroyer USS Samson recently flight tested four Standard Missile-2 Block IIIB missiles. The SM-2 Block IIIB has an infrared seeker and other notable enhancements. The Standard Missile series has been the Navy's primary surface-to-air fleet air defense weapon for more than thirty years. The SM-2 is currently operational on guided missile cruisers and destroyers in the U.S. Navy and is in use with seven allied countries.
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Interceptor Successfully Destroys Satellite
The United States military reports the successful downing of a disable spy satellite using a specially modified sea-based SM-3 missile defense interceptor. The main purpose of the intercept was to destroy the fuel tank, which contained toxic hydrazine, before the ailing satellite reentered the earth's atmosphere. The successful intercept represents tests of both the sea-based Aegis missile defense system and a test of American anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities.
Without the military's intervention, the satellite would have reentered the atmosphere and fallen to Earth during the first week in March, and an area of several hundred miles could have been contaminated with its hydrazine fuel.
The SM-3 interceptor underwent software modifications to allow it to hit the satellite instead of a ballistic missile, which would have had a slightly different trajectory. The mission comes nearly a year after a controversial Chinese anti-satellite test, in which Beijing used a missile to destroy an old weather satellite. The Chinese test drew widespread international concern, and also created a considerable amount of space debris. The American satellite destruction, by contrast, created a minimum amount of debris.
» More stories on: Space-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Extra Funds Provided for Sea-Based Missile Defense Program
On November 28, Rear Admiral Alan Hicks, program director for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, said a significant addition to the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense budget will fund the installation of new Aegis defensive systems on 18 warships by the end of 2008, approximately six months earlier than previously scheduled. The Aegis system recently succeeded in intercepting multiple ballistic missiles simultaneously in an October test.
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Intercept Successful; Two Targets Destroyed
On November 6, the Missile Defense Agency announced another successful test of the sea-based Aegis missile defense system. This test was the first simultaneous "hit-to-kill" interception of two unitary "non-separating" targets. The test was conducted off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, in conjunction with the U.S. Navy, and with the participation of Japan.
At approximately 6:12 p.m., the missile range facility in Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii launched a short-range ballistic missile target. Moments later, the facility launched a second, identical missile. The U.S.S. Lake Erie's Aegis BMD Weapon System detected and tracked the targets, and then fired two SM-3 Block IA missiles, which intercepted the missiles. A Japanese destroyer also participated in the test. The J.S. Kongo conducted long-range surveillance and tracking, which should prepare it for what will be the first ballistic missile intercept test by a Japanese ship scheduled for later this year.
This test, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-13 (FTM-13), is the 32nd and 33rd successful "hit-to-kill" intercepts since 2001 (including tests by Ground Based Interceptors, Patriot PAC-3, THAAD, and Aegis). It also marks the tenth and eleventh successful intercepts, of thirteen targets in twelve scheduled flight tests for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, a sea-based component of the Agency's broader ballistic missile defense system.
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Cooper, Pfaltzgraff, and Berman: Don't Ignore Sea- and Space-Based Missile Defense
An opinion piece by Henry Cooper, Robert Pfaltzgraff and Ilan Berman, calling for a new approach to missile defense, was featured in the October 22 edition of Defense News. Their article responds to comments by Missile Defense Agency head Lieutenant General Obering made July 23, which dismissed critics who advocate different operational concepts for American defense and appears to equate them with those who oppose missile defense entirely. The authors criticize the Missile Defense Agency's approach thus far which focuses on ground-based midcourse defenses, which unfortunately neglects sea and space assets which can better intercept missiles and better protect the country's vulnerabilities, often for less money.
For less than 10 percent of the MDA's $10 billion-per-year budget, the Navy has amassed an impressive test record: nine successful intercepts in 11 attempts with its SM-3 interceptor (10 for 12 if the Navy's successful test of its SM-2 Block 4 is also counted). Impressive indeed, compared with the five-for-10 record of the Alaska ground-based interceptor system...At a price tag of just $25 million for software fixes, investing in this expanded capability is something of a no-brainer...Then there is the matter of ship deployment. Of the 18 being given the SM-3 intercept capability, 16 are headed to the Pacific (the six already there are mostly protecting Japan). For just $62 million more, the Navy could begin outfitting another nine of the 80 Aegis ships around the world and deploy a contingent of 11 to defend against terrorists launching Scuds off our East Coast, as well as against Iranian ballistic missiles.
Space defenses are equally critical because they are best positioned to intercept missiles during their weak boost phase of launch, and because the U.S. is increasingly dependent on satellites of all kinds which are themselves susceptible to missile attacks.
As the anti-satellite test carried out by China in January amply demonstrated, a growing number of U.S. adversaries and strategic competitors are seeking to exploit, even dominate, space for military and commercial purposes. If the United States does not protect its interests in space--including through the deployment of missile defenses--we may soon find our security, which is critically dependent on our space systems, at the mercy of nations that have.
» More stories on: Analysis, Policy
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
Missile Defense Team Completes Flight Test and Intercepts Target Missile
On September 28 the Missile Defense Agency reported the successful test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, including an intercept of a target missile. The Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska launched a long range ballistic missile target, traveling southward to resemble the trajectory of a North Korean missile. The upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base in California located and tracked the target. Seventeen minutes later, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California launched an interceptor missile, which released its exoatmospheric kill vehicle, the component that collides directly with the target warhead in space, a "hit to kill" kinetic technology. The interceptor successfully destroyed the target warhead, marking the seventh successful intercept of the GMD system, and the second time an operationally configured interceptor has been used in the past thirteen months. The test was described as highly complex, and integrating a number of components, including the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) located in the northern Pacific and an Aegis ballistic missile defense ship using its onboard SPY-1 radar to track the target warhead.
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Japan, U.S. Hold Missile Defense Drill
On July 6, Japan and the United States held a joint missile defense exercise in an undisclosed location "at sea and in air around Japan." The exercise combined four Aegis-radar equipped destroyers (three from the U.S. and one from Japan) and early warning aircraft while cooperating in target-tracking and information-sharing.
Tokyo and Washington are developing an advanced missile defense system to guard against a possible missile attack from North Korea. Japan deployed its first advanced U.S.-developed Patriot missiles this year, and plans to introduce SM-3 interceptors on its destroyers in the next few years. The next regional missile defense exercise is scheduled for November.
» July 11, 2007: Japan Times on sensitive disclosure from missile drill
» More stories on: Japan, Allies
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis Intercept Test Successful; Spanish Frigate and THAAD Radar Part of Test
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced the ninth successful test in eleven attempts of its "hit to kill" interceptor for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, the sea-based component of the Agency's
Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). At approximately 4:40 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, the USS Decatur launched a Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) Block IA interceptor which successfully destroyed the target warhead more than 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean and 250 miles northwest of Kauai.
An Aegis cruiser (USS Port Royal, CG 73), a Spanish frigate, Méndez Núñez (F-104), and the MDA's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) mobile ground-based radar also participated in the flight test. U.S.S. Port Royal used the flight test to support development of the new Aegis BMD SPY-1B radar signal processor, collecting performance data on its increased target detection and discrimination capabilities. Méndez Núñez, stationed off Kauai, detected and tracked the ballistic missile with a minor modification made to its Aegis Weapon System. The THAAD radar, based on the island of Kauai, also tracked the target and exchanged data with the Aegis BMD cruiser. This was the first Aegis BMD test that used information from a land-based X-band radar: "The THAAD radar tracked them first. This particular case was to prove that THAAD can cue the Aegis system," said Joe Rappisi, Lockheed Martin director for Aegis ballistic missile defense.
The test was the third time the Aegis BMD system has demonstrated its target discrimination capabilities by intercepting a ballistic missile with a separating reentry vehicle. Additionally, the test marked the first time an Aegis BMD equipped destroyer was used to launch the interceptor missile instead of a cruiser. The participation of the Spanish frigate was also noteworthy, demonstrating the potential of cooperation with the system. Aegis BMD technology is being installed on 18 U.S. ships, including cruisers and destroyers.
» Navy Times description of Aegis destroyer intercept
» More stories on: Testing - American, Allies
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
Lewis on the Neglected Capabilities of Aegis
Jeffrey Lewis writes for the ArmsControlWonk.com blog, concerning the curious lack of attention to the robust capabilities of the sea-based missile defense, as compared to the Ground-Based midcourse interceptors currently in contention for Eastern Europe.
At a recent budget hearing of the Atlantic Council, MDA Director General Obering was asked by Representative Ellen Tauscher of the House Strategic Forces subcommittee, whether a mobile Aegis SM-3 might be part of a viable alternative to the European site of ten ground based interceptors. Obering responded with a relative rejection of mobile sea-based missile defenses for Europe in favor of ground based systems. General Obering cited two main sources for his skepticism of mobile defenses.
First, the current configurations of Aegis BMD and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense do not have the ability to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) without extensive and costly modifications. Likewise, mobile system sensors for Aegis BMD and THAAD cannot provide equivalent radar coverage of Europe... Second, the protection of Europe with mobile systems such as Aegis BMD and THAAD would come at a cost that is more than five times greater to field and sustain when compared to the fixed BMD site plan.
The General concluded, "I believe our current proposed architecture will provide the best, most cost effective protection for our European allies, and it can be deployed beginning in 2011."
Lewis criticizes General Obering's assessment, noting "the 21 version-which the United States is already cooperatively developing with Japan," which according to past documentation "is supposed to have 40-60 percent better burnout velocity, between 4.5-5.0 m/s. Such an interceptor-supplemented with the appropriate terminal defenses-ought to be able to defend most of Europe with much fewer than ten ships." Additionally, Lewis points out, Obering assumed all Aegis vessels must be on alert 24 hours a day instead of being deployed in an emergency. Thus, "Reducing the number of ships required by an order of magnitude from forty to four would make the mobile option much, much more attractive."
Given that the sea-based Aegis system has proven itself to be the most reliable of missile defense systems tested to date, Lewis' observations are well worth noting for those interested in a more robust missile defense system.
» More stories on: Analysis
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
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