Missile defense

The Raytheon Company announced it has been selected to provide the US Army with its next-generation, 360-degree capable radar – known as the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS). Deployment of sensors like LTAMDS is expected to close the vulnerability of sectorial air defenses that was clearly demonstrated in the failure of Saudi Arabian air defenses to detect and warn of the Iranian cruise missile attack.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) today unveiled details of the comprehensive trials series of Barak-ER system, tested against a range of scenarios and threats, culminated with the intercept of a ballistic missile target by the BARAK ER (Extended Range) interceptor. BARAK-ER provides wide-area protection against a range of air, sea, and ground threats, including ballistic, ground-to-ground, and cruise missiles, UAVs, and helicopters.

With ongoing domestic procurement of naval weapon systems for Magen corvettes and Dolphin submarines, and growing export opportunities, naval programs become an important growth opportunity for Israel’s defense industries.

MBDA Deutschand unveiled a new laser effector for land and naval applications at the ILA 2016 airshow in Berlin. In the naval sector, laser effector systems could feature in both on board ship and port protection. Photo: MBDA

Arrow-3, the Israeli exo-atmospheric ballistic missile interceptor successfully intercepted three medium-range missile targets over the North Pacific Ocean. The event marked the completion of a full-capacity flight test campaign. Three Medium-Range Ballistic Missile targets were intercepted in outer space, by Arrow-3 interceptors launched from Kodiak, Alaska. The tests were conducted under a joint Israeli-US program led by Israel’s Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) of the Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

The US Air Force successfully demonstrated the intercept of an aerial target using the AGR-20A Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rocket. This proof of concept can have implications for homeland defense missions, Combined Defense of the Arabian Gulf.

Racing to the Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), Pyongyang's long-range missile activity means bad news for Japan and South Korea, since the medium and intermediate range missiles developed by the rough nation could target even well-defended targets in the Western Pacific, including Japan, South Korea and US bases in the region. This review outlines some of the measures taken by countries in the region, to bolster their missile defense capabilities.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the Indian Ministry of Defense signed a contract worth US$1.6 billion today, for the supply of an unspecified number of Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles (MRSAM) for the Indian Land Forces. IAI signed today a second contract for the delivery of Barak 8 Long Range SAM (LRSAM) for the first locally built aircraft carrier - Vikrant. The new deals have increased the system's total order book by 60 percent, to five billion.

Lockheed Martin Skunk Works, the Missile Defense Agency, and the U.S. Air Force successfully connected an F-35, U-2 and a ground station in a ground-breaking test demonstrating a secure distribution of sensitive information across multiple platforms, facilitating true multi-domain operation. During the demonstration, called Project Riot, an F-35 detected a missile launch at long range, using standard onboard sensors. It then shared that information through the U-2 gateway, providing an early warning to an air defense center on the ground, enabling the commander to quickly make the decision to target the threat.

The State Department has approved a request from Japan for an initial buy of Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missiles, for an estimated cost of $133.3 million. The sale that includes only four missiles will likely provide missiles for test and evaluation of Japan's current missile defense assets, likely the AEGIS equipped missile destroyers that currently carry SM-3 Block IB missiles.

The U.S. Navy yesterday intercepted a medium range ballistic missile (MRBM) target using the new SM-6 Dual I interceptor, proving the capability of the upgraded multi-mission missile to defend the fleet against 'carrier killer' ballistic missiles.

The first live intercept test of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA interceptor missile was completed successfully on Friday dawn, off the west coast of Hawaii, proving the design maturity of the most advanced interceptor in the sea-based AEGIS Missile Defense system. The intercept was conducted by the US Navy AEGIS test ship - from the USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) as part of a US-Japanese cooperative development.

China's Defense Ministry confirmed today that it was pressing ahead with anti-missile system tests after pictures appeared on state television, depicting a successful missile intercept test conducted in 2010. Earlier this week Beijing released another video depicting an anti-satellite test conducted last year. The Aolong-1 (Roaming Dragon) spacecraft sent into orbit last month will be cleaning up space junk, other analysts suspect it could serve a military purpose.

A test of Israel's Arrow 3 ballistic missile interceptor was aborted today due to a target failure. According to an Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) announcement, the test performed at the Air Forces' Palmachim missile test base was planned as part of the series of tests on Israel's multi-tiered defense array.