Over the waters of the Kauai-based Pacific Missile Range Facility on Nov. 6, 2007, two ballistic missile targets were successfully intercepted by two Standard Missile-3s during the Missile Defense Agency’s latest “hit-to-kill” intercept flight test conducted jointly with the U.S. Navy.

Designated as Flight Test Standard Missile-13 (FTM-13), the test marked the program’s 10th and 11th successful intercepts for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program, a sea-based component of MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System. Aegis BMD, cooperatively managed by MDA and the Navy, is designed to intercept and destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missile threats.

As Technical Direction Agent for the Aegis BMD program, APL performs a wide range of activities before, during and after flight tests including performing preflight predictions of the Aegis BMD combat system’s performance, and defining mission and target scenarios. During a test, they evaluate real-time target performance assessments and evaluate missile telemetry data. Among its post-flight responsibilities the APL team analyzes flight data, and updates and validates radar and six-degree-of-freedom performance simulations.

APL representatives are among the leaders in the joint community for link communications systems connecting Aegis ships and other sea-, space-, and ground-based assets.

For more information:
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/pdf/07news0051.pdf

For images:
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/nmdimg.html#sbased.ANC

For video:
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/video.html#seavid.ANC

A Standard Missile-3 (right) was one of two interceptors fired from the USS Lake Erie during FTM-13 that collided with two ballistic missile targets (left) launched from the Pacific Missile Range Test Facility. U.S. Navy photos