Tag: Missile Defense

Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) are currently tested with Airborne Infrared (ABIR) sensors – performing persistent, forward pickets to spot hostile missile launches and track them through their flight trajectory. These missions will soon evolve as RPAs become operational, and augment existing radar and space-based sensors, providing midcourse tracking and target discrimination, to help targeting ground and ship-based missile defense interceptors. In the next phase MDA will equip even larger unmanned platforms with high-power laser systems, to perform boost-phase intercept. The agency plans to demonstrate such systems in 2021.

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.

North Korea has moved the Rodong Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) launchers closer to the South in an attempt to circumvent the missile defense shield soon to be established by the U.S. THAAD missiles.

After approving the deployment of a THAAD battery in South Korea, Seoul insists the system will operate independently of the U.S. regional missile defense, which consists of additional land and sea-based command elements, radars and interceptors.

The Israeli Missile Defense Organization (IMDO) in conjunction with the United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the United States European Command (EUCOM) successfully conducted an Integrated Ground Test which ended on June 22nd. The test validated the combined United States/ Israeli Missile Defense integrated architecture for the defense of Israel.

News reports aired yesterday said it the recent 'successful' intercept of a ballistic missile target was, in fact, a complete failure, as the interceptor wasn't launched at all!

New thrusters system designed for the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) of the Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) missile have passed an important validation test yesterday. The planned test that was originally scheduled for late 2015 did not include a target intercept. The test evaluated the CE-II EKV that demonstrated the performance of alternate divert thrusters in a flight environment. It also performed end-to-end discrimination of a complex target scene through the GMD fire control loop. The next flight test will conduct full intercept of a target simulating an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICMB).

The French Ministry of Defence has launched a modernization program for the country's SAMP/T ground based air defense system. The Aster Block 1 NT (New Technology) programme will cover the modernization of the Aster 30 interceptor and associated SAMP/T air defense system that will evolve with missile defense capabilities.

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has completed three major missile defense tests this week, a closing accord for an ambitious test plan this year. Two tests performed earlier today included a successful exo-atmospheric intercept test of the Arrow 3 interceptor, and first intercept mission of the Land-Based Standard Missile SM-3 Block IB launched from a land-based site. A third test conducted earlier this week tested the latest, most advanced variant of Standard Missile 3 series, the US-Japanese SM-3 Block IIA.

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Raytheon have completed the first Program Planning Review on the future Multi-Object Kill Vehicle (MOKV) concept, a key step toward defining critical aspects of its design. This milestone ensures that the development plan is aligned with the MDA's expectations, and on track for an upcoming Concept Review in December.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled today the ELM-2090S Spectra 'mega radar', an 'S band' companion to the Ultra UHF radar system introduced few months ago.

The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and US Navy conducted a successful series of missile intercepts in the Pacific Ocean last week, demonstrating the capability of a newly modified missile interceptor to defeat short range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles with the same weapon. The SM-6 was designed from the start to defeat air breathing targets such as cruise missiles, but the recent test was the first to demonstrate the modified variant's capability to defeat ballistic threat missiles in their final seconds of flight.

The German Federal Ministry of Defence has chosen the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) as the basis for Taktisches Luftverteidigungssystem (TLVS), a next-generation network-based tactical air- and missile-defense system. It will replace the Patriot air defense systems initially fielded in the 1980s.

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling an advanced, UHF, Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar at the Paris Air Show. It is designed to search, detect and track ‘air breathing targets,’ including low-observable (stealth) aircraft, missiles, UAVs and ballistic missile targets at very long range, providing operating early warning. The new radar, which has already become operational with an unspecified customer, is part of the new ULTRA family of UHF radars developed by IAI's ELTA Systems Group and subsidiary.