THAAD, Aegis Radars Cooperate in Anti-Missile Test
(NSI News Source Info) 13 August, 2008: Traveling thousands of meters per second, a 20-foot Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missile destroyed an advanced, separating warhead dummy target just beneath the 60-mile envelope of the Earth's atmosphere off the cost of Hawaii during a June test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai.
A THAAD interceptor missile fires at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.
The test intercept marked the first time the THAAD and Aegis radar systems worked together in a tactical scenario against a separating warhead, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials said.
"A separating warhead is not like a Scud which is a unitary warhead but rather a separating target which means it releases its warhead. It is more like the North Korean No-dong missile," said Rick Lehner, an MDA spokesman.
In the exercise, the THAAD and Aegis missile defense radar systems worked in tandem and cued one another rather than separately scanning a 360-degree field, MDA officials said. The Aegis radar enabled the THAAD radar to zero in on the target.
"THAAD uses transportable X-band radar which can get a cue from a variety of sources. The X-band radar can perform very precise tracking of a warhead. The THAAD radar was able to direct and cue the Aegis radar. It was very significant for the missile defense infrastructure to be able to pass along radar cues to other platforms like Aegis," said Lehner.
"The overall goal is to be able to integrate all of the radars and command-and-control systems so that you have a truly layered missile defense," he said.
Lockheed Martin engineers have been working with MDA on further integrating different elements of the missile defense system.
"We have been progressively integrating more of the ballistic missile defense system. Aegis took a cue from THAAD. The intercept itself was well within the needed specifications," said Tom McGrath, Lockheed vice president and THAAD program manager.
The integration between THAAD and Aegis is key to defeating more advanced separating warheads.
"Longer-range threats separate from the booster. Any of the longer-range and medium-range threats all have separating re-entry vehicles for greater velocity. We demonstrated the radar information used to discriminate between what is a booster and what is the target. X-band radar can provide precise tracking and discrimination, then the on-board seeker takes over and that is how you are able to kill the target in the terminal phase," said McGrath.
"The seeker will decide what the re-entry vehicle is and go kill it. This gives you much more robustness in execution in making sure you kill the lethal object by using both RF [radio frequency] and IR [infrared]," he said.
THAAD, designed with high-speed hit-to-kill technology, is engineered to intercept incoming missile threats in the final or terminal phase of its trajectory when it is closest to its target. In previous tests, THAAD has also demonstrated the ability to intercept incoming targets at the lower end of the "midcourse phase" beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
THAAD's mobile launcher is an Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck A3 with on-board electronics able to fire in less than one minute when necessary, McGrath said. The launcher holds up to eight missiles.
"This is a deployable asset," said McGrath.
A production contract for the first two THAAD fire control units was awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2006. Production of the THAAD launcher and fire control and communications unit is under way at Lockheed's manufacturing facility in Camden, Ark., and interceptor production is being conducted at Lockheed's Pike County Facility in Troy, Ala.
The Army will deliver THAAD by September 2009; the first deployment will come between 2010 and 2012 depending upon funding, Lehner said.
The next test, slated for September, will fire two THAAD interceptors at a separating target in a realistic, tactical scenario, Lockheed officials said. In addition, upcoming flights tests in 2010, 2011 and 2012 are planned to prove the interceptor's ability to discriminate targets from decoys.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
THAAD, Aegis Radars Cooperate in Anti-Missile Test
THAAD, Aegis Radars Cooperate in Anti-Missile Test
(NSI News Source Info) 13 August, 2008: Traveling thousands of meters per second, a 20-foot Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor missile destroyed an advanced, separating warhead dummy target just beneath the 60-mile envelope of the Earth's atmosphere off the cost of Hawaii during a June test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai.
A THAAD interceptor missile fires at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii.
The test intercept marked the first time the THAAD and Aegis radar systems worked together in a tactical scenario against a separating warhead, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) officials said.
"A separating warhead is not like a Scud which is a unitary warhead but rather a separating target which means it releases its warhead. It is more like the North Korean No-dong missile," said Rick Lehner, an MDA spokesman.
In the exercise, the THAAD and Aegis missile defense radar systems worked in tandem and cued one another rather than separately scanning a 360-degree field, MDA officials said. The Aegis radar enabled the THAAD radar to zero in on the target.
"THAAD uses transportable X-band radar which can get a cue from a variety of sources. The X-band radar can perform very precise tracking of a warhead. The THAAD radar was able to direct and cue the Aegis radar. It was very significant for the missile defense infrastructure to be able to pass along radar cues to other platforms like Aegis," said Lehner.
"The overall goal is to be able to integrate all of the radars and command-and-control systems so that you have a truly layered missile defense," he said.
Lockheed Martin engineers have been working with MDA on further integrating different elements of the missile defense system.
"We have been progressively integrating more of the ballistic missile defense system. Aegis took a cue from THAAD. The intercept itself was well within the needed specifications," said Tom McGrath, Lockheed vice president and THAAD program manager.
The integration between THAAD and Aegis is key to defeating more advanced separating warheads.
"Longer-range threats separate from the booster. Any of the longer-range and medium-range threats all have separating re-entry vehicles for greater velocity. We demonstrated the radar information used to discriminate between what is a booster and what is the target. X-band radar can provide precise tracking and discrimination, then the on-board seeker takes over and that is how you are able to kill the target in the terminal phase," said McGrath.
"The seeker will decide what the re-entry vehicle is and go kill it. This gives you much more robustness in execution in making sure you kill the lethal object by using both RF [radio frequency] and IR [infrared]," he said.
THAAD, designed with high-speed hit-to-kill technology, is engineered to intercept incoming missile threats in the final or terminal phase of its trajectory when it is closest to its target. In previous tests, THAAD has also demonstrated the ability to intercept incoming targets at the lower end of the "midcourse phase" beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
THAAD's mobile launcher is an Oshkosh Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck A3 with on-board electronics able to fire in less than one minute when necessary, McGrath said. The launcher holds up to eight missiles.
"This is a deployable asset," said McGrath.
A production contract for the first two THAAD fire control units was awarded to Lockheed Martin in late 2006. Production of the THAAD launcher and fire control and communications unit is under way at Lockheed's manufacturing facility in Camden, Ark., and interceptor production is being conducted at Lockheed's Pike County Facility in Troy, Ala.
The Army will deliver THAAD by September 2009; the first deployment will come between 2010 and 2012 depending upon funding, Lehner said.
The next test, slated for September, will fire two THAAD interceptors at a separating target in a realistic, tactical scenario, Lockheed officials said. In addition, upcoming flights tests in 2010, 2011 and 2012 are planned to prove the interceptor's ability to discriminate targets from decoys.
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