SM-3 interceptor fails to hit target in missile defense test | World Defense

SM-3 interceptor fails to hit target in missile defense test

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SM-3 interceptor fails to hit target in missile defense test
A test of Raytheon's Standard Missile-3 interceptor reportedly failed to hit its target in a test in Kauai, Hawaii, on Wednesday.

By James LaPorta | Feb. 01, 2018
SM-3-interceptor-fails-to-hit-target-in-missile-defense-test.jpg


A test of Raytheon's SM-3 Block IIA missile interceptor reportedly failed to hit a test target on Wednesday in Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Missile Defense Agency

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The United States was unsuccessful in a missile defense test in Kauai, Hawaii, on Wednesday, as a Standard Missile-3 interceptor reportedly failed to hit a target launched from an aircraft.

Testing on the SM-3 Interceptor is a joint effort between the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Navy, Japan and Raytheon, which manufactures the munition.

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White confirmed the test flight occurred at a press briefing Thursday morning, but did not say it failed -- instead referring to it as a learning experience.

"[The test] did not meet our objectives and we always learn something from these tests," White told reporters.

Pentagon officials on Wednesday night told The New York Times that the test had failed.

The Pentagon is being tight-lipped on the matter due to current tensions between the United States and North Korea and the upcoming Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, CNN reported.

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Image courtesy of Raytheon

The unsuccessful launch was the second failure during the last year, following the failure of another SM-3 Block IIA to hit its target last June.

The new version of the missile, which is capable of traveling farther and has improved target tracking systems, is seen as a needed defense against adversaries such as North Korea with their development of ballistic missiles that have a range of more than 8,000 miles.

The Block IIA is launched and guided by the Lockheed Martin-produced Aegis Ashore Weapon System.

Japan and the United States have been collaborating on the Block IIA's development, with the goal of integrating the missile into land-based defense systems. The upgraded missile has a larger rocket motor and a larger kinetic warhead that is supposed to aid in it's search for incoming threats.

https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/20...ense-test/4041517499906/?st_rec=8001517516035
 

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Another US Navy ballistic missile intercept reportedly fails in Hawaii
By: David B. Larter
January 31, 2018

WASHINGTON — A test shoot of the SM-3 Block IIA fired from an Aegis Ashore test site in Hawaii failed Wednesday, CNN has reported. The missile is designed to intercept ballistic missiles.

If confirmed, it would mark the second unsuccessful test of the Raytheon missile in the past year. It also deals a setback to U.S. missile defense efforts as North Korea makes seemingly daily progress on it goal of striking the U.S. mainland with nuclear-armed missiles.

When reached for comment, U.S. Missile Defense Agency spokesman Mark Wright declined to comment on the outcome of the test.
“The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) conducted a live-fire missile flight test using a Standard-Missile (SM)-3 Block IIA missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, Wednesday morning,” Wright said.

CNN was first to report the failed test.

Its important to note that a number of factors apart from the missile could be to blame for the failed test. The targeting and fire control radars, or the Navy’s AEGIS system could also have caused the failed test.

An SM-3 Block IIA test in June failed after a sailor on the destroyer John Paul Jones mistakenly triggered the missile’s self-destruct mechanism.

The missile successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target last February in a test launch. The missile is being developed by Raytheon and is a joint project between the U.S. and Japan, designed to counter rising missile threats from North Korea and elsewhere.

https://www.defensenews.com/breakin...ia-ballistic-missile-intercept-hawaii-report/
 
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