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Preeminence

March 26, 2019
A second GBI is launched from Vandenberg AFB during the FTG-11 salvo intercept test, March 25, 2019.

An absolutely remarkable demonstration of missile defense capabilities to the world.

The United States of America has officially demonstrated and proved successfully that it can defend its homeland against ICBM threats. This is the first Missile Defense Agency (MDA) operational configured test overseen by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Department of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, using a two Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) salvo shot doctrine against a realistic ICBM target, fusing operational sensor data from space, air, land, and sea into an operational command and control system to put forward a firing solution, that was successfully implemented. This test was the most complex test ever done in the 17 year history of MDA.

Operational, tested and proven missile defense capability defending the United States homeland from ICBMs strengthens strategic deterrence, defends the entire population, and ensures the defense of American allies.

This remarkable and historic engineering feat has been achieved, with legacy technology, by the government-industry team of MDA whilst moving into an era of new technology that will sharpen, improve, and exceed legacy missile defense technologies.

The era of new technologies of space-based discrimination, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) sensors, F-35 air-based sensors, and the underlay of Aegis Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA are participating, developing, and improving the whole missile defense system. The upcoming scheduled deployments of the Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR), the Homeland Defense Radar – Hawaii (HDR-H), and the new Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) tipped 20 GBIs are force multipliers to improve the reliability and cost of the already existing and successful system.

Having DOT&E configure an operational and realistic missile defense test of the United States homeland would include these deployed and operational assets in place today  – the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) for early warning, forward based Transportable Radar Surveillance (TPY-2), the Sea-Based X-Band (SBX) Radar, a salvo shot doctrine of two GBIs, and supplemental Aegis SPY-1 ship-based sensors all fused together with the Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) at Shriver Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

American ingenuity, resiliency, grit, teamwork, and engineering has made the nation and the world safer.

An eye watering event for all those that have worked on, associated with, and believed in missile defense.

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Mission Statement

MDAA’s mission is to make the world safer by advocating for the development and deployment of missile defense systems to defend the United States, its armed forces and its allies against missile threats.

MDAA is the only organization in existence whose primary mission is to educate the American public about missile defense issues and to recruit, organize, and mobilize proponents to advocate for the critical need of missile defense. We are a non-partisan membership-based and membership-funded organization that does not advocate on behalf of any specific system, technology, architecture or entity.

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