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Missile Defense
Boeing Airborne Laser ‘shoots down’ first missile
20:19 August 23, 2009 PDT
On August 10, Boeing and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency were finally able to demonstrate that the US$1.1 billion Airborne Laser (ABL) program actually works. The ABL aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400, took off from Edwards Air Force Base and located, tracked and fired on a target missile. Although a surrogate high-energy laser was used – rather than the megawatt-class laser that will ultimately arm it – instrumentation on the target verified the hit. Read More
PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile successfully tested
By Kyle Sherer
01:08 September 19, 2008 PDT
Lockheed Martin and the Japanese Self Defense Force have successfully tested the PAC-3 Missile against a tactical ballistic missile target, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The PAC-3 Missile Segment is an upgrade to the Patriot air defense system, and is designed to detect, track, engage and destroy TBMs. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Airborne Laser completes activation tests
By Kyle Sherer
19:35 June 1, 2008 PDT
Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency have completed the first laser activation testing for the Airborne Laser missile defense program. The tests involved circulating water through the laser to verify its integrity, before circulating chemicals through the laser to confirm sequencing and control. Read More
Guardian system protects commercial flights from terrorist missile threats
By Loz Blain
23:54 April 2, 2008 PDT
Being shot out of the sky with a surface-to-air missile might not be at the forefront of your mind when traveling on a commercial airliner, but with shoulder-mounted, infra-red anti-aircraft rockets selling for as little as US$5000 in trouble spots around the world, it's perhaps surprising that it's only happened a few dozen times in recent years. Once launched, such a missile travels at twice the speed of sound towards its target, so countermeasures must be automatic and instant - which brings us to Northrop Grumman's GUARDIAN system. This anonymous-looking pod provides 360-degree laser-based missile defense for commercial airliners for a total cost of around a dollar per passenger over the aircraft's service life. Read More
Laser modules installed on Airborne Laser prototype aircraft
By Kyle Sherer
22:01 February 28, 2008 PST
February 29, 2008 In another milestone for the US Missile Defense Agency’s Airborne Laser project, the six laser modules that comprise the core of the system have been successfully installed by Northrop Grumman. Read More
Lockheed Martin awarded $194 million for production of Army Tactical Missile System
By Kyle Sherer
17:44 February 11, 2008 PST
February 12, 2008 The US Army has given Lockheed Martin $194 million for the production of the Army Tactical Missile System, which it expects to complete by the second quarter of 2010. The contract includes the ATACMS Quick Reaction Unitary and the Block IA Missiles. Read More
Aegis Open Architecture green lighted by U.S. Navy
By Kyle Sherer
16:02 January 13, 2008 PST
January 14, 2008 Lockheed Martin recently received final approval from the U.S. Navy to proceed with the integration and shipboard installation of the world’s first, fully-open architecture Aegis weapon system for a major surface warship. Aegis Open Architecture is a weapon system that can absorb frequent technology refreshes and upgrades in capabilities, both from new development and separate third party products. Read More
First succesful Japanese test for the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System
By Kyle Sherer
18:39 December 18, 2007 PST
December 19, 2007 The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System has been successfully tested for the 12th time in an exercise that marks the first occasion the system has been used by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. A Japanese Kongo destroyer launched a Standard Missile-3 Block IA missile, which engaged and destroyed a medium-range ballistic missile target fired from the U.S Navy’s Pacific Missile Range facility in Hawaii at a height of 60 miles above the Pacific ocean. Read More
First-of-its-kind dual missile test intercepts targets in space
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 November 17, 2007 PST
November 18, 2007 Raytheon's Standard Missile-3s have successfully intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere, the first time a Navy has ship demonstrated simultaneous engagements against such targets in space. Read More
Lockheed Martin tests guided missile impervious to GPS jamming
By Kyle Sherer
23:03 November 5, 2007 PST
November 6, 2007 Lockheed Martin’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) has achieved all its test objectives in Unitary rocket Phase II product qualification test flights at White Sands Missile Range. The tests verified the missile’s ability to perform in a GPS jamming environment at long range – an essential feature for air strikes in close proximity to friendly troops, or with a low collateral damage threshold. Read More
Boeing-led test successfully intercepts target missile
By Darren Quick
07:18 October 4, 2007 PDT
October 4, 2007 The Boeing Company, working with industry teammates and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, has successfully completed a missile defense flight test resulting in the intercept of a target warhead to demonstrate the capability and reliability of the nation's only defense against long-range ballistic missiles. Read More
Airborne Laser project achieves development milestones
01:28 September 5, 2007 PDT
September 5, 2007 Successful testing of an aircraft mounted laser weapon system has been carried out by the US missile defense agency and industry partnership team at Edwards Air Force base in California. The Airborne Laser (ABL) team has demonstrated the ability to point and focus the Lockheed Martin developed Beam control/Fire control system on an airborne target. Read More
Lockheed Martin tests “Multiple Kill Vehicle” missile fleet defense technology
By Loz Blain
03:45 August 28, 2007 PDT
August 28, 2007 The Cold War might be over, but the underlying strategy that arose with Reagan’s Star Wars missile defense program in the 1980s lives on as the threat of long-range missile attack remains a global concern. Lockheed Martin have just announced successful testing of part of the Missile Defense Agency's “Multiple Kill Vehicle” program designed to be a single-launch platform to neutralize an entire fleet of incoming enemy missiles. Read More
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
