Midav
08-23-2004, 07:54 PM
THAAD Displaying 'Residual' Capability Against ICBMs
By Marc Selinger
08/20/2004 09:45:04 AM
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - U.S. missile defense developers have discovered that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, designed to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their final stages of flight, will also be capable of shooting down longer-range targets.
At the seventh annual space and missile defense conference here, Army Col. Charles Driessnack, THAAD's program manager, said in a speech late Aug. 18 and at a press briefing Aug. 19 that recent tests of the system's Raytheon-built radar have shown that THAAD will have a "residual" capability against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
"We weren't planning to have the ICBM capability," but the radar is "outperforming what we thought it was supposed to do," Driessnack said.
Driessnack said the program plans to start demonstrating the entire system's anti-ICBM capability in about fiscal 2009, after THAAD has been flight-tested against shorter-range threats.
Although the U.S. Missile Defense Agency has been seeking to develop a "layered" defense to defeat ballistic missiles in all phases of flight, its efforts against ICBMs have tended to focus on earlier phases than the terminal phase that THAAD is supposed to address. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, slated for an initial fielding this fall, is designed to destroy long-range missiles in the midcourse phase, and the new Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program focuses on threats in the boost phase, though MDA has said KEI may eventually have a capability in other phases as well.
Against shorter-range missiles, THAAD targets threats at higher altitudes than the "lower tier" Patriot system.
THAAD, whose prime contractor is Lockheed Martin Corp., is scheduled to begin flight-testing in early FY '05 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and later move to the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii and the Reagan Test Site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific to address longer-range threats. Testing at PMRF will include a demonstration of the system's capability against barge-launched missiles.
Driessnack described THAAD as a "second-generation" system because the program was restructured after a series of failed flight tests a few years ago.
Although THAAD's fielding is not slated to start until FY '09, test assets could be ready to defend Hawaii years earlier. Several THAAD radars will also be available for early use.
In addition to interceptors and radars, THAAD consists of truck-mounted launchers and a command, control, battle management and communications system (C2BMC). A series of upgrades are planned to expand the area that THAAD can defend and to reduce the radar's footprint. Transporting the radar now requires three C-17 aircraft.
The launcher initially will carry eight missiles. As the missile is upgraded over time to give it "longer legs," it will become slightly larger, reducing the number that can fit on a launcher to six, Driessnack said.
By Marc Selinger
08/20/2004 09:45:04 AM
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - U.S. missile defense developers have discovered that the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, designed to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their final stages of flight, will also be capable of shooting down longer-range targets.
At the seventh annual space and missile defense conference here, Army Col. Charles Driessnack, THAAD's program manager, said in a speech late Aug. 18 and at a press briefing Aug. 19 that recent tests of the system's Raytheon-built radar have shown that THAAD will have a "residual" capability against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
"We weren't planning to have the ICBM capability," but the radar is "outperforming what we thought it was supposed to do," Driessnack said.
Driessnack said the program plans to start demonstrating the entire system's anti-ICBM capability in about fiscal 2009, after THAAD has been flight-tested against shorter-range threats.
Although the U.S. Missile Defense Agency has been seeking to develop a "layered" defense to defeat ballistic missiles in all phases of flight, its efforts against ICBMs have tended to focus on earlier phases than the terminal phase that THAAD is supposed to address. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, slated for an initial fielding this fall, is designed to destroy long-range missiles in the midcourse phase, and the new Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program focuses on threats in the boost phase, though MDA has said KEI may eventually have a capability in other phases as well.
Against shorter-range missiles, THAAD targets threats at higher altitudes than the "lower tier" Patriot system.
THAAD, whose prime contractor is Lockheed Martin Corp., is scheduled to begin flight-testing in early FY '05 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and later move to the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii and the Reagan Test Site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific to address longer-range threats. Testing at PMRF will include a demonstration of the system's capability against barge-launched missiles.
Driessnack described THAAD as a "second-generation" system because the program was restructured after a series of failed flight tests a few years ago.
Although THAAD's fielding is not slated to start until FY '09, test assets could be ready to defend Hawaii years earlier. Several THAAD radars will also be available for early use.
In addition to interceptors and radars, THAAD consists of truck-mounted launchers and a command, control, battle management and communications system (C2BMC). A series of upgrades are planned to expand the area that THAAD can defend and to reduce the radar's footprint. Transporting the radar now requires three C-17 aircraft.
The launcher initially will carry eight missiles. As the missile is upgraded over time to give it "longer legs," it will become slightly larger, reducing the number that can fit on a launcher to six, Driessnack said.