US tests 'Aegis Ashore' missile defense shield

PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE FACILITY, KAUAI, Hawaii, Dec. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Missile Defense Agency conducted the first intercept test of a Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) Land-Based Standard Missile-3 Block IB from the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex. The SM-3 destroyed an intermediate range ballistic missile target in space by using remote track data from an AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile defense radar in a 'launch-on-remote' engagement.

The test's success keeps the Aegis Ashore program and the SM-3 Block IB on track for deployment in Romania by the end of this year, in line with the second phase of the Phased Adaptive Approach, the U.S.'s plan for missile defense in Europe.

"In many ways, the SM-3 system is the crown jewel of ballistic missile defense," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "No other sea- and land-based regional missile defense system comes close in terms of range and defended area, especially when paired with the AN/TPY-2 radar."

The SM-3 and AN/TPY-2 have been used together in flight tests before.

"The range and discrimination of the AN/TPY-2 radar combined with the range and speed of an SM-3 provide incredible coverage, which is why both systems are core elements of the global ballistic missile defense system," said Tom Laliberty, vice president of missile defense programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.