Space News:
A new missile co-developed by the United States and Japan is expected to face its first intercept test this October, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said Aug. 17.
The Standard Missile (SM)-3 Block 2A interceptor is a bigger and more capable version of the Raytheon-built SM-3 Block 1A and 1B interceptors.
Syring described the test as a “big deal” during a speech here at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium and said he expected it “to garner a lot of public attention this fall.”
“It will send a message around the world on what Aegis is doing and what Standard Missile is doing to defeat the threat,” he said.
In the test, the SM-3 Block 2A would aim to destroy a medium-range ballistic missile target.
Designed to be fired from ships or from land, the Block 2A features second and third stages that are wider, at 53 centimeters, than those on the current SM-3 variants. That feature gives the missile the range and velocity needed to engage medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The interceptor also allows for more software updates to improve the missile’s capability and effectiveness.
In 2015, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency used the Block 2A variant in two flight tests but an intercept was not planned as part of either exercise.
Full-rate production of the interceptor is targeted for as early as 2017. That would be followed by deployment on land and at sea in 2018, government and industry officials have said.
