SM-3 Shootdown

If at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

A Standard Missile-3 Block 1B interceptor successfully shot down a target missile early this morning over the Pacific Ocean, according to a Missile Defense Agency statement.

This was the second intercept test of the SM-3 Block 1B. In September, the system failed to intercept the target.

Here's the MDA statement:

At 8:18 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (2:18 a.m. EDT May 10) the target missile was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, located on Kauai, Hawaii. The target flew on a northwesterly trajectory towards a broad ocean area of the Pacific Ocean. Following target launch, the USS LAKE ERIE detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD 4.0.1 weapon system, developed a fire control solution and launched the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB interceptor.

The USS LAKE ERIE continued to track the target and sent trajectory information to the SM-3 Block IB interceptor in-flight. The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space, as designated by the fire control solution, and released its kinetic warhead. The kinetic warhead acquired the target, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the threat in a hit-to-kill intercept.

Today's event, designated Flight Test Standard Missile-16 (FTM-16) Event 2a, was the first successful live fire intercept test of the SM-3 Block IB interceptor and the second-generation Aegis BMD 4.0.1 weapon system. Previous successful intercepts were conducted with the Aegis BMD 3.6.1 weapon system and the SM-3 Block IA interceptor, which are currently operational on U.S. Navy ships deployed across the globe.

Aegis BMD 4.0.1 and the SM-3 Block IB interceptor improve the system's ability to engage increasingly longer range and more sophisticated ballistic missiles that may be launched in larger raid sizes. The SM-3 Block IB interceptor features a two-color infrared seeker, which improves sensitivity for longer-range target acquisition and high-speed processing for target discrimination. The SM-3 Block IB interceptor also features an upgraded onboard signal processor and a more flexible throttleable divert and attitude control system to maneuver the IB interceptor to intercept.

Initial indications are that all components performed as designed. Program officials will conduct an extensive assessment and evaluation of system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.

FTM-16 Event 2a is the 22nd successful intercept in 27 flight test attempts for the Aegis BMD program. Across all Ballistic Missile Defense System programs, this is the 53rd successful hit-to-kill intercept in 67 flight test attempts since 2001.

InsideDefense.com reported earlier this week that lawmakers had approved a Pentagon request to shift more than $300 million between missile-defense accounts to support immediate needs, including funding required to avoid a stop-work order on the Next Generation Aegis Missile -- a weapon that figures prominently in the Obama administration's plan to defend Europe from Iranian missiles. Further:

On April 6, Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale sent lawmakers a $311.5 million reprogramming request to shift fiscal year 2012 missile defense funding "in support of higher-priority items based on unforeseen military requirements." Lawmakers trimmed the proposal by $5 million, allowing the Missile Defense Agency to proceed with $306.5 million of the requested account transfers.

The reprogramming will also forestall a stop-work order the Pentagon warned could come this month for the SM-3 Block 1B missile development program, which needed an additional $149 million.

Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman, said the threatened stop-work orders have been avoided. "We received approval from the four committees to reprogram funds for the two programs," Lehner told InsideDefense.com in a statement today.

Three of the four defense committees that reviewed the reprogramming request denied $5 million of the Pentagon's proposal to shift $20 million to advanced technology development funding for the Next Generation Aegis Missile.

In April 2011, the Pentagon awarded Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon contracts worth roughly $42 million each to begin early work on developing draft missile configurations and conducting studies on a Standard Missile-3 Block IIB, dubbed the Next Generation Aegis Missile.

Last fall, Congress dramatically trimmed the Pentagon's $123.5 million FY-12 request for the program to just $13.4 million, transferring the balance to other missile projects. "The intent [of the transfer] was to leave enough funding in the Next Generation Aegis Missile program for three contractors to support" the ongoing concept definition and program planning effort, the reprogramming states.

"A recent assessment determined that the remaining funding is insufficient to sustain three contractor teams in accordance with the approved acquisition strategy," it continues. "Funds are required by May 1, 2012, to avoid a stop-work." Lawmakers approved the reprogramming of $15 million for this effort.

MDA requested $244 million for the SM-3 Block IIB program in FY-13, a down payment on planned investments of $1.9 billion for Next Generation Aegis Missile development through FY-17. The Obama administration wants the hit-to-kill missile -- designed to destroy "first-generation" intercontinental ballistic missiles early in flight -- fielded in the "2020 time frame." The missile is envisioned to be deployed as part of the final stage of the United States' European Phased Adaptive Approach to defending against Iranian missiles.

Lawmakers also approved a $149 million transfer to the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense research and development account. According to the reprogramming, the funds "are required for the return-to-flight testing for the SM-3 Block IB missile." A flight-test failure of the SM-3 Block IB last September prompted Pentagon officials to suspend a planned production decision for the missile until it returns to flight.

"Funds are required on May 1, 2012, in order to avoid a stop-work situation and continue the re-work and testing of the SM-3 IB missile to support return-to-flight," the reprogramming states.

Two more intercept attempts are scheduled for this calendar year, according to John Rood, vice president of business development for Raytheon, the company that builds the SM-3 system. As Inside Missile Defense reported last month:

Rood said during a March 21 press briefing they were "pleased" at the way the throttling divert and attitude control system (TDACS) performed during the test. TDACS and a seeker are both new additions to the SM-3.

"We learned . . . a number of other things about the system," he said.

SM-3 Block IB is part of the second phase of the Obama administration's European Phased Adaptive Approach -- the plan for defending the continent from ballistic missiles. It is part of the Aegis Ashore program, which combines Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System with a ground-launched SM-3.

There will be three FTMs this year: one in the second, third and fourth quarters.

As part of phase four of the PAA, SM-3 Block IIB will counter regional, intermediate-range ballistic missiles. It will be integrated in the Aegis Weapon System using Aegis BMD 5.1.

SM-3 Block IIB will be deployed from both land and at sea in the initial operating configuration, Rood said. Raytheon is one of three contractors competing in the SM-3 Block IIB competition. In a Jan. 30 Federal Business Opportunities notice, MDA stated it will issue a request for proposals for the missile product development phase.