The Missile Defense Agency tomorrow will conduct the first test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System from a Navy destroyer off the coast of Kaua‘i, according to agency spokesman Chris Taylor. The event will mark the 11th
The Missile Defense Agency tomorrow will conduct the first test of the sea-based Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System from a Navy destroyer off the coast of Kaua‘i, according to agency spokesman Chris Taylor.
The event will mark the 11th Aegis test — all coordinated from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands — and follows two months after an Aegis-equipped Navy cruiser successfully intercepted two simultaneous threats.
Navy destroyers are smaller vessels than cruisers but more prolific.
“The destroyer has not done this kind of test before with the (Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System) 3.6 and SM-3 (Standard Missile-3),” Taylor said. “That’s what’s deployed on the ships in the western Pacific and Pearl Harbor.”
According to Taylor, five of the eight ships already equipped with Aegis are destroyers. Of the 18 ships scheduled to receive the system by 2009, 15 are destroyers and 16 will be stationed in the Pacific, he added.
As one of many layers of defense against attacks, Aegis specializes in sea-based, short- and mid-range missile interception as well as long-range surveillance.
During Thursday’s test, the “USS Decatur” will track a medium-range target originating from the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The Decatur will subsequently launch a SM-3 missile to intercept the separating target — meaning the warhead separates from the rocket — at a distance of more than 100 miles in the atmosphere. SM-3 uses the sheer kinetic energy of impact to destroy its target, and it is used against medium- to long-range ballistic missiles.
At the same time, the “USS Port Royal,” a cruiser, will track both the target and the interceptor and share that information with an Army Theater High-Altitude Area Defense system. The land-based THAAD resembles a large tank and offers mobile protection; it will be stationed at the facility.
According to Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance founder and President Riki Ellison, the Aegis system and others like it provide non-violent options for defense against attacks.
Successful tests increase the credibility of the defense system, he said, which is of particular importance in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s change of heart on missile defense in neighboring European countries as well as recent short-range missiles fired from North Korea.
“Having this system demonstrate its capability sends another strong message back to North Korea,” Ellison said.
Because Aegis is mobile and can target long-range missiles, it is less restrictive than land-based defense systems. Ellison noted that during the last test of Aegis in April, the interceptors hit the targets, which were traveling at 9,000 mph, “within a nickel” of the planned points of contact.
“It’s one way to make our world a little safer,” he said.
• Blake Jones, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or bjones@kauaipubco.com.
