NATO’s missile defense program to be fully operational in 2018 – Rasmussen

NATO’s Euro missile defense program will become fully operational by 2018, the alliance’s chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday.

THAAD Initial Operational Test and Evaluation Conducted

The BMDS Operational Test Agency (OTA) conducted, with support of the Missile Defense Agency, an operational test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) on Oct. 5, 2011, 1:56 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time at the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii.

Taiwan Develops Advanced Missiles

Taiwan's Hsiung Feng III missile displayed during Taiwan's national day parade in Taipei. Taiwan rolled out its top military weaponry with the aim of stirring China and boosting nationalist fervor

This year Taiwan started to deploy supersonic anti-ship missiles in response to China’s growing naval arsenal. Those third generation Hsiung Feng missiles that are now positioned on some 20 ships point to a strengthening in Taiwan’s normally low-key domestic missile production. But its military might is growing at a time when relations with Beijing are better than ever.

Army Receives First THAAD Missiles

 

 

Lockheed Martin delivered the first two Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Missiles to the U.S. Army, capping off years of planning and development.

MDAA Alert: Lift Off – Video of SBIRS GEO-1 Launch

Atlas-V with SBIRS GEO-1 Payload

Dear Members and Friends,

The first satellite of the next generation of the Defense Support Program (DSP) was launched into space at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This new satellite can detect and process a diverse variety of heat sources, including missile launches, defining and distinguishing the type of missile and where these missiles are heading in an extremely short period of time.

Sea-based Missile Defense Flight Test Results in Successful Intercept

SM-3 Block IA Missile Launch

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. Navy sailors aboard the Aegis destroyer USS O’KANE (DDG 77), and Soldiers from the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command operating from the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, successfully conducted a flight test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) element of the nation’s Ballistic Missile Defense System, resulting in the intercept of a separating ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean. This successful test demonstrated the capability of the first phase of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) announced by the President in September, 2009.

Work Could Soon Begin on Raytheon Missile Plant at Redstone Arsenal

Work could soon begin on the Raytheon plant at Redstone Arsenal that will assemble and test the company’s SM-3 and SM-6 “Standard Missiles.”

The company announced plans for the 70,000-square-foot facility in last July. But, since the plant is on the Army’s Redstone Arsenal grounds – at the site of the former Morton Thiokol facilities – the negotiations and agreements involve a number of entities, said Wes Kremer, Raytheon’s SM-3 program director.

“We are making significant progress,” he said in a telephone interview last week. “In the very near future we will be announcing the groundbreaking ceremony on that. We’re very anxious to move ahead with that.”

Lockheed Martin’s Huntsville Integrated Test Center to Provide Effective Support for Missile Defense

Melissa Wuerl, systems integration lead for the Lockheed Martin Huntsville Integrated Test (HIT) Center, stands in front of one of two five-axis motion simulators.

Lockheed Martin held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its Huntsville Integrated Test (HIT) Center in Huntsville, Ala.   The Lockheed Martin HIT Center will enable cost-effective and realistic testing of full-scale missile defense systems in a laboratory environment.

“This facility demonstrates Lockheed Martin’s commitment to advancing the state-of-the-art in missile defense capabilities,” said John W. Holly, vice president of Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, who led the ceremony.  “It also represents our continued investment in the Huntsville community, which plays a key role in protecting our nation.”

Government and community officials participating in the ceremony included U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Charlie Kettle, chairman of the board for the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber of Commerce.  More than 100 people attended the ceremony, including Lockheed Martin employees, government and military personnel, industry partners and community members.

S. Korea Launches Third Aegis-equipped Destroyer

South Korea launched its third Aegis-equipped destroyer Thursday, which will become the centerpiece of its strategic mobile fleet aimed at enhancing capabilities to deter North Korean aggression and conduct broader-range operations.

The 7,600-ton KDX-III destroyer, the Seoae Ryu Seong-ryong, was unveiled to the media during the launch ceremony at a shipyard of its builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in the southeastern coastal city of Ulsan.

STSS Satellites Demonstrate ‘Birth to Death’ Missile Tracking

A pair of low Earth orbiting demonstration satellites built by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems for the first time on March 16 detected and tracked a ballistic missile launch through all phases of flight, a Northrop Grumman official said March 22.

So-called birth-to-death tracking of a ballistic missile launch had never been done before from space and is the most significant achievement to date for the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) spacecraft, said Doug Young, Northrop Grumman’s vice president of missile defense and warning programs.