Aegis Ashore completes live fire intercept test
The US Navy, Lookheed Martin and the Missile Defense Agency have successfully conducted the first live fire intercept test of Aegis Ashore, with a ballistic missile target destroyed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), Lockheed Martin announced on 10 December.
The system’s launch-on-remote ability was demonstrated during the test. Aegis Ashore used information from another radar system to launch an intercept missile before switching to its own SPY-1 radar to guide that missile to the target.
Brendan Scanlon, director of Aegis Ashore programs, Lockheed Martin, said: ‘This launch on remote capability helps broaden the reach of Aegis systems by allowing individual Aegis units to use data from networked sensors to track and engage threats. This test speaks to the flexibility of the Aegis concept, where we can network together the proven capabilities of Aegis with other missile defense systems to create a total ballistic missile defense shield.’
Aegis Ashore is the land-based version of the Aegis Combat System and is powered by Baseline 9, the latest iteration of the Aegis configuration. It also features BMD 5.0 CU, the current generation of ballistic missile defence programming.
Aegis Ashore is an important element of the US European Phased Adaptive Approach, Phase II, a plan designed to guard deployed forces and the country’s European allies from ballistic missile attack.
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