Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
March 15, 2010
IWG Report 2009
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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Home :: Missile Defense Systems
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.
Israel Tests Iron Dome
Over the past two days, the Israeli military has conducted the final tests of its Iron Dome missile defense system. Iron Dome is a component part of Israel's growing multi-layered missile defense architecture, and is tasked with stopping the short-range rockets (among others, Grads, Katyushas, and Qassams) fired by Hamas from the Gaza strip and by Hezbollah into northern Israel.
This testing comes on the heels of the massive Juniper Cobra joint war games exercise conducted by the U.S. and Israel in late October and November of 2009. That exercise was meant to test and improve the connectivity and interoperability of U.S. and Israeli armed forces in the event of a missile attack. Although it was said to have been in the works for some time, the political and strategic timing of the exercise considering Iran's recent saber-rattling couldn't have been better. The sea-based U.S. Aegis system that is now tasked with protecting Eastern Europe was used in that exercise, along with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), and the forward-based X-band radar that was deployed in Israel in 2008.
Between Iron Dome, David's Sling (another joint project of the U.S. and Israel tasked with the interception of cruise missiles), the Arrow-2 system that has been deployed for some time, and a longer-range Arrow-3 system, Israel is quickly becoming one of a few world-leaders in missile defense technology and deployment.
In related news, on December 21, 2009 the White House announced the signing of the latest defense appropriation bill in which $202 million is provided to help fund Israeli missile defenses.
» President Obama and Congress fund Israeli missile defense
» Longer Range Rockets Threaten Israel from Gaza
» Israel Conducts Successful Short Range Missile Intercept
» Israeli Missile Defense Test Success
» Missile system details for: Arrow, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), Forward-Based X-Band Radar-Transportable, Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Aegis BMD Version 4.0.1
The Missile Defense Agency has conducted a number of tests this year of its new missile defense software deployed aboard the USS Lake Erie, the Aegis BMD 4.0.1. These four tests involved the tracking and simulated engagement of short-range separating ballistic missiles launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai.
The simulations included a demonstration of "Aegis BMD's ability to perform two-way acquisition and tracking data exchange with Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system." This test will provide useful data to use in implementing the Obama administration's missile defense policy shift in Europe from a ground-based interceptor system to one that will utilize the Navy's Aegis system and THAAD.
The USS Lake Erie is scheduled to engage a live target with its SM-3 Block IB interceptors in 2011.
» Missile system details for: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Gates Asks Japan to Export SM-3s
Kyodo News is reporting that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asked Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa to reverse a long-standing Japanese precedent of non-exportation of offensive military technology last week. Gates supposedly asked Kitazawa to consider exporting Block IIA SM-3 interceptors to western Europe. The Block IIA is a highly accurate upgrade to the existing SM-3 interceptors that the U.S. has been developing with Japan under a December 2004 agreement on bilateral missile defense cooperation.
Japan is working on the infrared sensor for the upgraded SM-3 system, while the U.S. is responsible for the kill vehicle. Planned deployment of the Block IIAs is currently slated for 2018. The SM-3 Block I interceptor forms the backbone of America's Aegis ship-based missile defense capability; the Japanese started outfitting their sea-based missile defense system with these SM-3s in 2007.
The Defense Department wants an answer by the end of 2010.
» BMD as Koizumi’s Heritage for Japan
» Japan and U.S. Expand Missile Defense Pact
» Bush Pledges MD Support to Japan
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
New BMD Plans for Eastern Europe
After a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that Poland would agree to host SM-3 missile interceptors provided by the U.S., to be deployed by 2015. This will be in addition to the provision of Patriot surface-air-missiles to Poland by the U.S.—part of the original Bush administration ground-based interceptor plan. While the Obama administration has scrapped the core of the original European missile shield plan to install ground-based interceptors in Poland and a radar unit in the Czech Republic, they have chosen to keep the 2008 promise to give Poland the Patriot missile system.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said Friday that the Czech Republic is also ready and willing to proceed with the new missile defense strategy for Europe proposed by the Obama administration. The shift to mobile SM-3 interceptors and Aegis ship-based missile defense is partly a response by the Obama administration to Russian objections to a ground based system able to defend against longer range ballistic missiles.
» Missile system details for: Patriot, Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Successful Ship-Based Missile Defense Test
On July 30, the Missile Defense Agency successfully conducted a test of its Aegis ship-based missile defense system. After launch of the target—a scaled down short range missile—from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Barking Sands, Kauai, the USS Hopper (an Arleigh-Burke class guided missile Destroyer) successfully "detected, tracked, fired and guided a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block (Blk) 1A to intercept." The target missile was launched from Hawaii at roughly 11:40 pm (EDT); the SM-3 was launched from the USS Hopper to intercept at roughly 11:42 pm (EDT).
The USS Lake Erie (a Ticonderoga-class guided missile Cruiser) and another Destroyer, the USS O'Kane, also participated in order to test the detection and tracking capabilities of their SPY radars. The captain and crew of the USS Lake Erie were testing the ship's newly upgraded Aegis BMD 4.0.1 Weapons System, in addition to simulating a launch of an SM-3 Blk 1B. A live-fire test of the SM-3 Blk 1B by the USS Lake Erie is scheduled for late 2010.
This was the 19th successful sea-based test conducted by the MDA, out of a total of 23 tests since 2002.
» More pictures from the Missile Defense Agency
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Final Report on America's Strategic Posture
The Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States has released its final report to Congress. It offers some encouraging news and recommendations about the continued development and viability of missile defense in theater, but also leaves much to be desired in its discussion of missile defense deployments, the possibility of an EMP attack, and the desirability of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The "on the one hand, on the other hand" style of the report seems to reflect a division of opinion over the proper approaches to strategic policy.
The chapter on missile defense opens by noting that "Missile defenses are an integral part of the strategic posture of the United States after the Cold War." Iran and North Korea are identified as the two "missile threats of most immediate concern." The commission mentions both the deterrent effect of a missile defense system and its potential for shielding and reassuring allies.
These capabilities may contribute to deterrence by raising doubts in a potential aggressor's mind about the prospects of success in attempts to coerce or attack others. They may contribute to assurance of allies, by increasing their protection and also reducing the risks that the United States would face in protecting them against a regional aggressor.
The commission "strongly supports continued missile defense cooperation with allies" Such as Israel and Japan. This cooperation involves missile defense systems designedto combat short- and medium-range missiles, such as THAAD, PAC 3, and the sea-based Aegis system. Citing current plans to deploy 96 THAAD and 133 sea-based SM-3 interceptors, the commission states that "these numbers should be reviewed if the threat from North Korean or Iranian missiles increases." The gradual expansion of Iranian, Chinese, and North Korean missiles would indeed seem to warrant such a review. Yet these systems may also need to be supplemented by others to form a global and layered defense.
The Commission expresses less confidence in the Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) currently deployed in California and Alaska, with ten additional interceptors slated for deployment at a third site in Poland.
This system has demonstrated some capability against unsophisticated threats and should undergo additional system testing to determine its effectiveness against more complex threats that include technologies intended to help in-coming missiles penetrate the defense (so-called penetration aids). Further development and deployment...should depend on results of these tests and on developments in the ICBM threats facing the United States and its allies.
No single system is capable of defending against all threats of course. Yet the Commission misses an opportunity to explore the significant advantages offered by a multi-layered missile defense system.
The Commission recommends that missile defense policy should balance the need for national defense with the "legitimate concerns of Russia and China about strategic stability." In other words, a vigorous pursuit of defensive capabilities might lead Russia or China to "take actions that increase the threat to the United States and its allies and friends," such as enhancing their own arsenals or proliferating missile technologies to others.
The commission ends its report with a discussion of EMP:
Lastly, the United States should take steps to reduce the vulnerability of the nation and the military to attacks with weapons designed to produce electromagnetic pulse (EMP) effects. We make this recommendation although the Commission is divided over how imminent a threat this is. Some commissioners believe it to be a high priority threat, given foreign activities and terrorist intentions. Others see it as a serious potential threat, given the high level of vulnerability.
A recommendation for the hardening of America's electrical grid follows. The report leaves unmentioned the potential a multi-layered missile defense system might have in meeting the threat of EMP.
» Strategic Posture Report 2009
» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
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
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