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Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
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Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
The Aegis ballistic missile defense system (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as Sea-Based Midcourse, is a Missile Defense Agency program under the United States Department of Defense developed to provide missile defense against short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The program is part of the United States national missile defense strategy and European NATO missile defense system.
Aegis BMD is an expansion of the Aegis combat system deployed on warships, designed to intercept ballistic missiles in mid-course phase (i.e., after the rocket burn has completed but prior to reentry into the atmosphere). Aegis BMD-equipped vessels can engage potential threats using the Standard Missile 3 mid-course interceptors and the Standard Missile 2 and Standard Missile 6 terminal-phase interceptors.
The current effort to deploy Aegis ballistic missile defense (ABMD) was begun during the mid-1980s as part of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The SDI plan was initially for a space-based railgun system. However, technological constraints caused the system to be transformed into a surface-based system known as the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP). The original testing of the LEAP was done as part of the Army LEAP program.
Later, SDIO worked with the Navy to test the LEAP on the Terrier missile. The Terrier LEAP demonstration program lasted from 1991 into 1995 and consisted of four flight tests. Two of these were intercept tests in early 1995; both failed to intercept—the first had a software error in the second-stage booster, the second had a squib (pyrotechnic switch to connect power) in the kinetic kill vehicle that was mounted backwards and failed to fire.
During the late 1990s, the U.S. Navy was tasked to provide a weapon system for exploratory testing of LEAP. This phase was designated the Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) program. The program was for two successful intercepts in five attempts. On June 13, 2002, the second successful ALI intercept occurred during the FM-3 flight test mission. Initial Aegis BMD success may have contributed to President George W. Bush's decision to deploy an emergency ballistic missile capability by late 2004.
Upon the completion of the ALI program, Aegis BMD was transitioned to the production phase. The first Block I production SM-3 was delivered in October 2004, and the Aegis 3.0 update was delivered in 2005.
This system was given major new importance by President Obama in September 2009, when he announced plans to scrap the plans for a missile defense site in Poland, in favor of missile defense systems located on U.S. Navy warships. On 18 September 2009, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin welcomed Obama's plans for missile defense which may include stationing American Aegis armed warships in the Black Sea, as these are likely to be less effective against Russia's missile attacks. In 2009 several U.S. Navy ships were fitted with SM-3 missiles to serve this function, which complements the Patriot systems already deployed by American units. Warships of Japan and Australia also have been given weapons and technology to enable them to participate as well.
Current Aegis BMD hardware includes the SM-3 Block-1a missile and other improvements to the Aegis Weapons System. Future development of the Aegis BMD system includes Launch on Remote capability, upgraded SM-3 avionics and hardware, and an upgraded Aegis Weapon System. In 2012 Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense will merge with Aegis Open Architecture and deliver the benefits of both platforms. The Launch on Remote capability involves the use of off-board sensors, such as the Space Tracking and Surveillance System to provide a targeting solution for a SM-3 launch.
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Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
The Aegis ballistic missile defense system (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as Sea-Based Midcourse, is a Missile Defense Agency program under the United States Department of Defense developed to provide missile defense against short and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The program is part of the United States national missile defense strategy and European NATO missile defense system.
Aegis BMD is an expansion of the Aegis combat system deployed on warships, designed to intercept ballistic missiles in mid-course phase (i.e., after the rocket burn has completed but prior to reentry into the atmosphere). Aegis BMD-equipped vessels can engage potential threats using the Standard Missile 3 mid-course interceptors and the Standard Missile 2 and Standard Missile 6 terminal-phase interceptors.
The current effort to deploy Aegis ballistic missile defense (ABMD) was begun during the mid-1980s as part of President Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). The SDI plan was initially for a space-based railgun system. However, technological constraints caused the system to be transformed into a surface-based system known as the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP). The original testing of the LEAP was done as part of the Army LEAP program.
Later, SDIO worked with the Navy to test the LEAP on the Terrier missile. The Terrier LEAP demonstration program lasted from 1991 into 1995 and consisted of four flight tests. Two of these were intercept tests in early 1995; both failed to intercept—the first had a software error in the second-stage booster, the second had a squib (pyrotechnic switch to connect power) in the kinetic kill vehicle that was mounted backwards and failed to fire.
During the late 1990s, the U.S. Navy was tasked to provide a weapon system for exploratory testing of LEAP. This phase was designated the Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) program. The program was for two successful intercepts in five attempts. On June 13, 2002, the second successful ALI intercept occurred during the FM-3 flight test mission. Initial Aegis BMD success may have contributed to President George W. Bush's decision to deploy an emergency ballistic missile capability by late 2004.
Upon the completion of the ALI program, Aegis BMD was transitioned to the production phase. The first Block I production SM-3 was delivered in October 2004, and the Aegis 3.0 update was delivered in 2005.
This system was given major new importance by President Obama in September 2009, when he announced plans to scrap the plans for a missile defense site in Poland, in favor of missile defense systems located on U.S. Navy warships. On 18 September 2009, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin welcomed Obama's plans for missile defense which may include stationing American Aegis armed warships in the Black Sea, as these are likely to be less effective against Russia's missile attacks. In 2009 several U.S. Navy ships were fitted with SM-3 missiles to serve this function, which complements the Patriot systems already deployed by American units. Warships of Japan and Australia also have been given weapons and technology to enable them to participate as well.
Current Aegis BMD hardware includes the SM-3 Block-1a missile and other improvements to the Aegis Weapons System. Future development of the Aegis BMD system includes Launch on Remote capability, upgraded SM-3 avionics and hardware, and an upgraded Aegis Weapon System. In 2012 Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense will merge with Aegis Open Architecture and deliver the benefits of both platforms. The Launch on Remote capability involves the use of off-board sensors, such as the Space Tracking and Surveillance System to provide a targeting solution for a SM-3 launch.
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