The United States planned to conduct a missile defense test today that
would integrate a range of new radar and laser assets as the Pentagon accelerates the program's development in preparation for war in the Middle East.
The test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system will include a
U.S. Navy Aegis cruiser as well as the developing airborne laser.
The navy
plans to send an Aegis-based missile defense system to the Mediterranean
over the next month to help protect Israel against Iraqi medium-range
missiles, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Defense Department's Missile Defense Agency scheduled a
developmental flight test over the Pacific Ocean on early Wednesday .
Officials said this would be the first night-time interceptor attempt as part
of an accelerated development project.
The agency said the USS Lake Erie will use its SPY-1 radar to track the
target missile. The cruiser's radar will not help in directing the
interceptor to its target, rather ascertain the role the SPY-1 radar and the
Aegis weapon system in defending against long-range targets.
In October, the ship-based SPY-1 radar succeeded to track a long-range
target missile. It was the first such attempt by the Aegis-class radar and
the The Standard Missile-3 interceptor. The missile, with a maximum speed of
three kilometers per second, is designed to be launched from the current and
future fleet of Aegis cruisers and destroyers.
For the first time, the flight test will involve a developmental radar
representative of that used for the Theater High Altitude Area Defense
[THAAD] system. The TPS-X Radar, a high-resolution, X-band
phased array radar, will observe the initial phases of the flight to collect
data to examine the radar's potential to support a ballistic missile defense
system.
In addition, the Pentagon plans to deploy the airborne laser prototype
for the first time. A modified Boeing 747-400 freighter aircraft serves as
the platform for a chemical laser system meant to destroy a ballistic
missile soon after it is launched. The aircraft, which does not yet contain
the lasers, will deploy sensors to locate and track the boosting target
missile during the first minutes of its flight in order to test the
capabilities of the sensors.
"As with the Aegis cruiser, neither the THAAD radar or the ABL will
direct the interceptor to the target, but will collect data to assess their
potential contribution to a layered and integrated missile defense system,"
the agency said.
