Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] latest Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) System with flight test-proven terminal intercept capability recently received full certification from the Navy, the company reported yesterday.
This newest upgrade to the operational BMD system deployed today adds the capability to defeat short-range ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere in their final (terminal) stage of flight. The system is already certified to defeat longer range ballistic missiles above the atmosphere, according to Lockheed Martin.
By June, Aegis BMD version 3.6.1 will be installed in the 17 of the Navy’s 18 Aegis BMD-equipped ships. Beginning next summer, Aegis BMD version 3.6.1 will also be installed on three additional Aegis-equipped ships, all homeported on the East Coast, the company said.
Separate from the 3.6.1 installations, the Aegis BMD-capable ship USS Lake Erie (CG-70) is being fitted with the next Aegis BMD spiral that includes an improved on board computing capability and Raytheon‘s [RTN] Standard Missile-3 Block IB. Lake Erie will begin sea trails of this next spiral this year, according to Lockheed Martin.
The Navy’s latest upgrade certification of the sea-based missile defense system followed a thorough government test and evaluation, including a June 2008 test mission with the Lake Erie. In the test, Lake Erie‘s SPY-1B radar detected and tracked a ballistic missile test target, and computed a targeting solution to guide two SM-2 Block IV missiles to a successful endo-atmospheric (within the atmosphere) intercept, according to Lockheed Martin.
“Build a little, test a little, learn a lot- that is the systems engineering backbone behind Aegis,” Orlando Carvalho, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Surface/Sea-Based Missile Defense, said. “We understand the importance of fielding ever-more-capable ballistic missile defenses, and the role Aegis’ continuous development has in the Navy’s and Missile Defense Agency’s plans to field that capability.”
The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States’ Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Currently, a total of 20 Aegis BMD version 3.6-equipped warships–18 in the U.S. Navy and two in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force–have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and track missions.
The 88 Aegis-equipped ships currently in service around the globe have more than 950 years of at-sea operational experience and have launched more than 3,500 missiles in tests and real-world operations. In addition to the United States and Japan, Aegis is the maritime weapon system of choice for Australia, Norway, South Korea and Spain.