frustratedpilot | Entries tagged with missiles

Hey.

Notes to myself as much as to the world...

A site about the missile used, with some technical data.

Now what I find interesting, in a military theory sort of way...

That "third stage". What if those things were made in numbers cheap enough to be fielded not only by the Navy, but by the Army and the Air Force? What if existing missile systems in use now can be adapted to become first and second stages for the anti-missile warhead? We wouldn't need extra bases in allied countries. We could deploy missile defense anywhere around the globe. Not only that, but we could convert the Lion's share of our deterrent nuclear ballistic missile force into a purely defensive asset--in theory, their large throw weight could allow salvos of anti-missile kill vehicles to be used against enemy missiles.

So in this respect, I'm all for it--if it means we can wean our own nation OFF the weapons of mass destruction diet.

US jet intercepts ballistic missile for first time: officials
Agence France-Presse | Dec 6, 2007
Washington: A US F-16 fighter used an air-to-air missile to destroy a sounding rocket in its boost phase for the first time this week in a test of a new missile defense concept, US spokesmen said Tuesday.

The system -- named the Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCDE) -- breaks new ground in that it would arm fighter aircraft or drones with missiles fast enough to intercept a ballistic missile as it lifts into space.

The aircraft would have to get to within a 100 miles of the launch site to catch the ascending missile in the first two to three minutes after launch.

But it could be very useful in a short range combat situation against short and medium range missiles, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency.

The Pentagon has two other better known boost phase intercept systems under development -- the Airborne Laser and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor -- but those are still years away from being ready, he said.

"So it does give us an initial boost phase capability even though it is a much shorter range missile, and you have to be in the area of the missile launch to be effective," Lehner said.

The test Monday at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico involved an F-16 fighter that fired two modified AIM-9X missile at an Orion sounding or research rocket.

The first destroyed the rocket and the second recorded the interception, the Pentagon's missile defense agency said.

The missile seekers' relayed images of the rocket at close range, demonstrating the capability to acquire and track the target, the Pentagon's missile defense agency said.

"Although not unexpected, the subsequent intercept destroyed the target," it said.

"A second AIM-9X launched during the test observed through its seeker the intercept of the target by the first and was also on a trajectory to intercept the target," the agency said.

Besides special seekers, AIM-9X and AIM-20 AAMRAM are fitted with a new liquid propellant second stage to give it the burst of speed needed to catch a ballistic missile in its boost phase.

Lehner said the missiles were heavily instrumented during the test, but otherwise conditions were "pretty realistic."

Raytheon Missile Systems, which developed the NCADE, said it "provides a revolutionary, low-cost approach to interceptor development and acquisition."

If missile defense doesn't need to rely on ABM batteries that are vulnerable to countertargeting, and can use off-the-shelf hardware, it would be an important force multiplier for our Air Force.

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Entries tagged with missiles

Behind This Week's Satellite Shoot-Down

Ordinary Fighter Jet Takes On Ballistic Missile--And Wins!

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