US Navy missile defense test fails off Hawaii

Thursday, June 22, 2017
By Paul Martin

RT.com
22 Jun, 2017

An interceptor missile fired from a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Hawaii failed to hit the target, the US Missile Defense Agency said. The failure follows last month’s successful test of a ground-based interceptor against an ICBM-like target.
On Wednesday evening local time, a medium-range ballistic missile was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii, the MDA said in an official statement about the test.

The destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar, part of the Aegis Baseline 9.C2 weapon system. The ship fired a SM-3 Block IIA guided missile, but did not hit the target.

“A planned intercept was not achieved,” the MDA statement said. “Program officials will conduct an extensive analysis of the test data. Until that review is complete, no additional details will be available.”

This was the second test using the Baseline 9.C2 weapon system. The first test, in February this year, resulted in a successful intercept. It was the fourth test of the SM-3 Block IIA missile, and the second ship launch.

The SM-3 Block IIA is a joint venture between the US and Japan, aiming to defeat medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It is based on Raytheon’s SM-3 (Standard Missile) Block IB, deployed aboard the US Navy’s Aegis missile cruisers as well as two land sites (‘Aegis Ashore’) in Poland and Romania as part of a missile defense network ostensibly aimed to protect European allies against Iran.

The Rest…HERE

Leave a Reply

Join the revolution in 2018. Revolution Radio is 100% volunteer ran. Any contributions are greatly appreciated. God bless!

Follow us on Twitter