The US military successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile Friday in a test of a new interceptor system, which is being co-developed with Japan and has been dogged by previous failures.
Sailors aboard the USS John Finn successfully detected, tracked and targeted the rocket with an SM-3 Block IIA missile during a test off the west coast of Hawaii, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) said in a statement.
The successful operation comes after two failed intercept tests, in June 2017 and January 2018.
A test firing in February 2017 had been successful.
"This was a superb accomplishment and key milestone for the SM-3 Block IIA return to flight," MDA Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves said.
The MDA in January said America had so far spent about $2.2 billion on the system and Japan about $1 billion. The MDA could not immediately confirm if those numbers had grown.
The SM-3 Block IIA missile is part of the AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense system and is made by arms giant Raytheon.
Related Links
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
| Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.</span> |
||
| SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal |
 |
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only |
Northrop Grumman to upgrade IBNS systems for Burke-class vessels
Washington (UPI) Oct 25, 2018
Northrop Grumman has received a contract to provide common integrated bridge and navigation systems, or IBNS, for the U.S. Navy's New Construction Ship Program and Midlife Modernization Program. The $18 million firm-fixed-price contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, calls on Northrop to produce base hardware for IBNS systems for both new DDG-51 vessels and upgrades to others. The IBNS contributes to a comprehensive plan to modernize the DDG-51 class ships - also kno ... read more
from Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense https://ift.tt/2AvWXsQ
via space News
No comments: