MEADS Flies

The Medium Extended Air Defense System completed its first flight test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico today, meeting all test objectives, according to Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Cheryl Amerine.

Lockheed Martin, MEADS' maker, intended to validate the hardware design of the MEADS battle manager, lightweight launcher and the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) missile. The company also hoped to demonstrate the 360-degree capability of the system, Marty Coyne, Lockheed Martin's MEADS business development director, told Inside the Army today.

Before the test, Coyne explained how it would proceed. A launch command would be sent from the MEADS battle manager to the lightweight launcher positioned several kilometers away, Coyne said. An MSE missile would be launched out of the system at a 70-degree angle and would then “literally bend over its back,” Coyne said, to hit a simulated target directly behind the launcher.

Although simulated tests have been performed, Coyne said, this was the first time MEADS launched an MSE missile.

The data collected from the test will be leveraged for future simulations, “and it will help us reduce risk for our follow-on flight test,” Coyne said.

The next test, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012, will involve an intercept attempt. It will also introduce MEADS' 360-degree fire control radar tracking system.

The program underwent a critical design review 15 months ago, Coyne said. However, the trinational program remains on very thin ice after the Pentagon decided to terminate U.S. involvement in the effort after the current phase ends.

“MEADS provides more capability at a lower cost to protect our soldiers against a growing air and missile threat. The MEADS lightweight launcher is one of the most advanced mobile launchers in existence today and was designed to be easily adaptable to a variety of vehicles,” NATO MEADS Management Agency General Manager Gregory Kee said in Lockheed Martin statement today.