Defense Updates:\
The U.S. Navy yesterday performed a first intercept test of a medium range ballistic missile target using the new Standard Missile 6 dual mission (SM-6 Dual I) interceptor. The missile was launched by USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), an Aegis baseline 9.C1 equipped destroyer, supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) AEGIS Missile Defense tests. “The test met it’s primary objective” the agency said in a statement. Program officials will continue evaluating system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
“This test demonstrated the capabilities MDA and the Navy are delivering to our fleet commanders,” said MDA Director Vice Adm. Jim Syring. “The SM-6 missile and the Aegis Weapon System continue to prove that they are critical components of our nation’s multilayered, robust ballistic missile defense system.”
The destroyer fired a salvo of two SM-6 Dual I missiles against a complex medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) target, demonstrating the sea based terminal endo-atmospheric defensive capability of the vessel. The test was conducted off the coast of Hawaii just after midnight on Dec. 14.
The SM-6 missile uses an explosive warhead to defeat ballistic missile threats, differing from other missile defense interceptors, such as the Standard Missile-3, which use non-explosive hit-to-kill technology. This intercept is the first time the SM-6 ‘Dual I’ engages an MRBM target.
Unlike the AEGIS ships equipped with the SM-3 interceptor that can defend land masses from against ballistic missile attacks, vessels equipped with the SM-6 are designed to defend themselves, and the carrier task forces they are assigned to protect, against all aerial threats. The updated threat assessment calls for defense against a wide range of targets – from manned and unmanned aircraft, guided missiles launched from surface ships, submarines or aircraft at stand-off range, to ballistic ‘carrier killers’ missiles, such as the Chinese DF-21, that may be launched from ranges of 2,000 away, against enemy surface vessels and aircraft carriers. Intercepting such targets, attacking from steep angles, at a velocity of Mach 10, the navy has tasked dedicated interceptors that were not useful for other purposes.
The SM-6 has been developed with this threat in mind – and upgraded to successfully engage land-attack anti-ship cruise missiles in flight; ballistic missiles in their terminal, or final, stage of flight over land or sea; as well as surface targets (floating ships or land targets). The missile will succeeded the SM-2 Block IV missile currently used as a dedicated ballistic missile interceptor on AEGIS surface ships.
Vertically launched from a MK 41 VLS canister, the SM-6 missile is compatible with existing AEGIS cruisers and destroyers and future cruisers and destroyers. The system’s operational modes include semi-active homing and active homing to provide highly accurate target engagement, and it incorporates the advanced signal processing and guidance control capabilities of the AMRAAM air-to-air missile…
