The U.S.
Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said it conducted its second successful test June
5 of a sea-based interceptor intended to knock down incoming missiles in their
terminal phase of flight.
U.S. Navy
Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program manager at MDA, said in a June 5 conference call with reporters that the agency is planning to deploy the
Standard Missile-2 Block 4 in the near future as an interim measure until it can
develop a more capable missile.
There are
two versions of the Aegis
sea-based missile defense, one intended to engage missiles in their
midcourse phase of flight and one for the terminal phase, when the warheads are
nearing their target. The midcourse system, which utilizes the Standard
Missile-3 interceptor, has been successfully tested several times to date and
was used earlier this year to destroy a wayward U.S. spy satellite.
The
terminal defense version of the Aegis system is of interest to commanders to
augment the ground-based Patriot interceptor system, or to fill gaps where
Patriots are not deployed, Hicks said.
Lockheed
Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors of Moorestown, N.J., is the prime
contractor for the Aegis missile defense effort. The Standard Missile-2 Block
4, initially developed as a self-protection measure for ships against cruise
missiles and aircraft, is built by Raytheon Missile Systems of Tucson, Ariz.
During the
June 5 test, which took place at the Pacific Missile Test Range off the coast
of Hawaii, an Aegis ship fired two Standard Missile-2 Block 4 rockets, both of
which exploded near the incoming target as planned, Hicks said.
Unlike the
Standard Missile-3, which engages its targets outside the atmosphere and
destroys them by force of direct impact, the Standard Missile-2 Block 4 is
designed to explode near its target within the atmosphere. The target is
destroyed by fragments from the blast. Hicks said the target in this test
featured a warhead that did not separate from its booster, similar to a Scud missile,
but declined to provide further details except to say it was built outside of
the United States.
The
Standard Missile-3 already is deployed on a small number of Aegis ships. The MDA plans to equip ships with both types of interceptors in order to allow them to shoot at
incoming targets during different phases of flight, Hicks said. This will
require a software modification to enable the ships to fire the Standard
Missile-2 Block 4, he said.
The MDA is planning a test for late 2008 that would involve a Standard Missile-3 interceptor fired
from a Japanese ship, Hicks said. The agency may conduct another test in which
a Standard Missile-3 will be fired from a U.S. ship if it can secure the
funding to do so, he said.
Land-based
deployment of the Standard Missile-3 also is possible in the future, though the
MDA has no firm plans for that at the moment, Hicks said. The agency has fired
the missiles from land in the past during testing at White Sands Missile Range, he said.
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