PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE FACILITY, KAUAI, Hawaii, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN - News) STANDARD Missile-3 (SM-3) hit a ballistic missile target in space during a June 13 Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy Sea-based Midcourse Defense (SMD) flight test off the Hawaii coast. It was the SMD's second successful intercept.
The flight test, designated Flight Mission-3 (FM-3), was designed to hit the target - a modified Minuteman I second stage which had been launched from Kauai - in space.
USS LAKE ERIE (CG 70) tracked the target, and then launched the SM-3. The missile, with guidance commands from the ship's weapon system, flew a trajectory of more than 500 kilometers to intercept. The closing velocity of the target and SM-3 was more than 8,500 feet per second. As the SM-3's kinetic warhead approached the target, it used its divert thrusters to maneuver into the path of the target.
The flight test also demonstrated the integration of the SM-3 with the shipboard AEGIS Weapon System, and validated system technologies, including the dual-pulse third-stage rocket motor, the solid divert attitude control system (SDACS)'s sustain pulse and the kinetic warhead's terminal guidance.
FM-3 was the SMD program's fourth successful flight and second consecutive hit. The first intercept occurred Jan. 25 also off the Hawaii coast.
"This success moves Raytheon, the U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency another step closer to deployment of the Sea-based Midcourse Defense system," said Edward Miyashiro, Raytheon's vice president for Surface Naval Air Defense Systems. "The STANDARD Missile-3 has been designed to be easily transitioned from development to deployment as part of the Missile Defense Agency's Ballistic Missile Defense System testbed concept. This will make the system available for emergency operations, if necessary."
Leveraging proven technology, Raytheon systems have successfully hit six targets in recent flight tests -- two with the SM-3 and four with the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle in MDA's Ground-based Midcourse Defense program.
SM-3 is designed to intercept an incoming ballistic missile outside the earth's atmosphere. The kinetic warhead is based on technology developed during the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) program. SM-3 and the kinetic warhead are under development by Raytheon Electronic Systems at its Missile Systems business unit in Tucson, Ariz., with major subsystems provided by Alliant Techsystems, the Boeing Company, ARC and Pratt and Whitney.
Navy missile defense is an urgent requirement for the fleet and for the nation. Navy missile defense provides several key advantages: assured access, rapid deployment, regional coverage and political flexibility. In many cases, the Navy may be first on the scene to provide air and missile defense for follow-on forces.
In addition to its work on the Sea-based Midcourse and Terminal Defense programs, Raytheon is a leader in a broad range of missile defense technologies and initiatives, including the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, the Ground-Based Radar-Prototype, X-Band Radar, Upgraded Early Warning Radar and the PAVE PAWS Early Warning Radar for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment. The company also provides the Ground-Based Radar element for the Theater High-Altitude Area Defense program, and its Patriot systems continue to be mainstays for theater ballistic missile defense. Raytheon is the prime contractor and integrator for the PAC-3 system and continues to provide the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System for many U.S. and allied forces.
With headquarters in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon Company is a global technology leader in defense, government and commercial electronics, and business and special mission aircraft.
SOURCE: Raytheon Company
Second Direct Hit is 5 for 5 Test Program Success
KAUAI, Hawaii, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- For the second time in less than six months, the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis Weapon System successfully guided a Standard Missile (SM)-3 to a ballistic missile target hit today.
The Aegis Combat System aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) and range sensors confirmed a direct hit of the target over the Pacific Ocean. The success of this test moves the Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy closer to a proven sea-based ballistic missile defense capability.
"This test was a critical step in the United States' ongoing sea-based ballistic missile defense efforts," said Fred Moosally, president of the Surface Systems unit of Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems (NE&SS). "Consecutive intercepts demonstrate that the reliable surveillance capability of the Aegis Weapon System and the SPY-1 radar, proven assets in the U.S. Navy's fleet, can certainly play an even larger role once the requirements of a sea-based ballistic missile defense system are in place."
The Aegis Weapon System includes the SPY-1 radar, the Navy's most advanced computer-controlled radar system. When paired with the Lockheed Martin-developed MK 41 Vertical Launch System, it is capable of delivering missiles for every mission and threat environment in naval warfare. The system can simultaneously attack multiple incoming aircraft, missiles, submarines, torpedoes and attacking ships while automatically implementing defenses to protect the fleet. Aegis is capable of countering the existing and emerging threats to a naval battle group, as well as striking inland targets.
The SPY-1 radar, available worldwide in various configurations, provides U.S. and allied nations with the world's most advanced naval surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense capabilities. The Aegis Weapon System is currently deployed on 66 Aegis-class ships on station around the globe, and 34 more ships are planned. Since its introduction to the U.S. Navy more than 20 years ago, Aegis has been approved for sale to Japan, Spain, and Norway.
Today's test, Flight Mission (FM)-3 is part of the Aegis Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile Intercept (ALI) Project, a stepping-stone toward the Navy's goal of a sea-based midcourse ballistic missile defense capability for Aegis ships. The ALI Project includes modifications to the Aegis Weapon System's phased array radar (SPY-1), Weapons Control System, Command and Decision System, Vertical Launching System and the SM-3. The sea-based midcourse defense system is an element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System and is intended to provide regional protection against medium- to long-range ballistic missiles for joint forces, seaports, inland airfields, vital political and military assets and population centers.
The test was sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency. FM-3 was the fifth in a series of planned flight tests that progressively show the Navy's Aegis Combat System's ability to engage ballistic missiles with the SM-3.
Lockheed Martin NE&SS provides surface ship and submarine weapon systems, antisubmarine warfare and ocean surveillance systems, missile launching systems, radar and sensor systems, ship systems integration services and other advanced systems and services to customers worldwide. NE&SS is a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT - News) headquartered in Bethesda, MD. The corporation's principal business areas are aeronautics, space, systems integration and technology services.
SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems