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US Aegis BMD destroyer makes first warhead intercept
27 June 2007
A separating ballistic missile 'warhead' has been intercepted outside the Earth's atmosphere by a US Navy (USN) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer launching an SM-3 Block IA missile.
The successful engagement by USS Decatur on 22 June is a first for a destroyer equipped with Lockheed Martin's Aegis BMD (Ballistic Missile Defence) combat system.
Staged at the Pacific Missile Range at Kauai, Hawaii, it was the Aegis BMD system's ninth ballistic missile hit-to-kill in 11 attempts. The earlier tests involved USN Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
Decatur's engagement was also the third time the Aegis BMD system has demonstrated its target discrimination capabilities by intercepting a ballistic missile with a separating re-entry vehicle, in this case a mock-up of a warhead.
The SM-3 was guided to its target - a medium-range ballistic missile in mid-flight at an altitude of more than 100 miles - by the latest USN-certified version of the combat system, Aegis BMD 3.6.
Other participants in the test were the Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Port Royal and the Spanish Navy's Alvaro de Bazan-class (F-100) anti-air warfare frigate SPS Mendez Nunez. It was the first time Spain has tested the BMD capability of one of its four F-100 ships, with Mendez Nunez detecting and tracking the ballistic missile with a minor modification to its Aegis system.