Ballistic Missile Defense System Demonstrates Layered Defense

sferrin

sferrin

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"The test, designated Flight Test Operational-02 Event 2a, was conducted in the vicinity of Wake Island and surrounding areas of the western Pacific Ocean. The test stressed the ability of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon systems to negate two ballistic missile threats while Aegis BMD simultaneously conducted an anti-air warfare operation.

This was a highly complex operational test of the BMDS which required all elements to work together in an integrated layered defense design to detect, track, discriminate, engage, and negate the ballistic missile threats. "

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/168400/sm_3-misses%2C-thaad-shoots-down-target-in-latest-bmd-test.html

A couple things in particular caught my interest with this test. Both targets were air-launched ballistic missiles. SRALT and eMRBM

http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/sralt.html
(eMRBM is apparently LRALT)
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau_fam/sr19.htm


The second thing I thought interesting is that the eMRBM was intended as the SM-3's target but when it missed they just used another THAAD to hit it.
 
That does suggest this was pretty close to a real-world test -- in more limited test, they've have used a range-safety destruct on the missed target.

I liked that they showed the transition from a BMD engagement to an air-breathing engagement. Early AEGIS BMD builds were "either-or", so you had to have an air-defense ship riding shotgun on the BMD asset.
 
"ACS"? ??? Is that an acronym for "the nose"? (Apparently I need to brush up on my TLAs.)
 
sferrin said:
"ACS"? ??? Is that an acronym for "the nose"? (Apparently I need to brush up on my TLAs.)
Click to expand...

I was thinking they were censoring the attitude control system on the nose though I guess a look at the design of the RV (I don't believe its shrouded) might give you a sense of the re-entry speeds THAAD/SM-3 could cope with.
 
marauder2048 said:
sferrin said:
"ACS"? ??? Is that an acronym for "the nose"? (Apparently I need to brush up on my TLAs.)
Click to expand...

I was thinking they were censoring the attitude control system on the nose though I guess a look at the design of the RV (I don't believe its shrouded) might give you a sense of the re-entry speeds THAAD/SM-3 could cope with.
Click to expand...

Except SM-3 pretty much demonstrated to the world that it can handle anything one could throw at it. It did take down a satellite after all. There is some evidence it might be the same with THAAD. In either case, if there is enough notice to get the KKV in position in time, they could probably hit ICBMs.
 
sferrin said:
marauder2048 said:
sferrin said:
"ACS"? ??? Is that an acronym for "the nose"? (Apparently I need to brush up on my TLAs.)
Click to expand...

I was thinking they were censoring the attitude control system on the nose though I guess a look at the design of the RV (I don't believe its shrouded) might give you a sense of the re-entry speeds THAAD/SM-3 could cope with.
Click to expand...

Except SM-3 pretty much demonstrated to the world that it can handle anything one could throw at it. It did take down a satellite after all. There is some evidence it might be the same with THAAD. In either case, if there is enough notice to get the KKV in position in time, they could probably hit ICBMs.
Click to expand...

Happy to hear your explanation for the Witness Relocation Program treatment of the nose.
 
marauder2048 said:
sferrin said:
marauder2048 said:
sferrin said:
"ACS"? ??? Is that an acronym for "the nose"? (Apparently I need to brush up on my TLAs.)
Click to expand...

I was thinking they were censoring the attitude control system on the nose though I guess a look at the design of the RV (I don't believe its shrouded) might give you a sense of the re-entry speeds THAAD/SM-3 could cope with.
Click to expand...

Except SM-3 pretty much demonstrated to the world that it can handle anything one could throw at it. It did take down a satellite after all. There is some evidence it might be the same with THAAD. In either case, if there is enough notice to get the KKV in position in time, they could probably hit ICBMs.
Click to expand...

Happy to hear your explanation for the Witness Relocation Program treatment of the nose.
Click to expand...

I don't have one. The only one I can think of is if they were using maneuvering RVs and wanted to hide that. Probably something much more mundane though.
 
Pentagon delays until 2028 flight test of engagement coordination among Aegis BMD, THAAD, Patriot

The U.S. military has delayed until 2028 plans for a major flight test to demonstrate the ability of three major ballistic missile defense systems to collaborate, a goal that if not further postponed will be 15 years after the Pentagon's top weapon tester called for the Navy and Army systems to establish rudimentary engagement coordination for theater-level threats.

Pentagon delays until 2028 flight test of engagement coordination among Aegis BMD, THAAD, Patriot | InsideDefense.com

The U.S. military has delayed until 2028 plans for a major flight test to demonstrate the ability of three major ballistic missile defense systems to collaborate, a goal that if not further postponed will be 15 years after the Pentagon's top weapon tester called for the Navy and Army systems to...
insidedefense.com insidedefense.com
 
Shocker. If it were up to me, I'd launch 3 RVs on a MM3 from Vandenberg and try to hit one with SM-3, one with THAAD in the atmosphere, and one with PAC-3 MSE.
 
No us missile defense system proven capable against realistic ICBM threats would
suggest that who fires first wins. So with no defense, are we sitting ducks to missile
attack.
 
US BMD was never meant to defend against a massed ICBM attack. It was specifically designed to go against a single "rogue" launch or say a single NK ICBM. It might be able to handle a handful, but anthihng Russian or Chinese is getting thru.
 
The DPRK is still my big worry, even with all that has gone on. Iron Dome…on a small scale…does show that missile defense can save lives.
 
publiusr said:
The DPRK is still my big worry, even with all that has gone on. Iron Dome…on a small scale…does show that missile defense can save lives.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what NK hopes to achieve. Blackmail? Nobody wants to take them over and I don't see them having any desire to try to take anybody else over. Maybe they just want to be left in peace to starve?
 
sferrin said:
Forest Green said:
breakingdefense.com

Budget bump allows early start for SDA's $2.5B missile tracking sats - Breaking Defense

The Space Development Agency intends to issue a solicitation for 28 "Tranche 1 Tracking Layer" satellites within the next two weeks, a senior official said, with an eye on making awards to two vendors.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
Click to expand...
Would be nice if they could slap cheap, networked, sensors on Starlink satellites. ;)
Click to expand...
It would be even nicer if Starlink satellites could form the basis of Brilliant Pebbles 2.0, both space borne sensors and interceptors.

Twenty years ago Brilliant Pebbles was projected to cost $55 billion. With the recent, almost miraculous advent of reusable space launch culminating in Starship in combination with stupendous progress in AI and Starlink, it seems to me that we have all the ingredients to finally make Brilliant Pebbles possible. Maybe its not pie in the sky anymore, and surely we can do it for less than $55 billion.

Biden just signed a bill to send $13.6 Billion in aid to Ukraine, and rightly so. Certainly more will be on the way, especially if the war drags on. Imagine if we had Brilliant Pebbles overhead all this while. Would Putin dare play chicken knowing that NATO has no fear of his nuclear arsenal?
 
The problem is that missile defense has to either be 100% or 0% effective. If you want Brilliant Pebbles, you gotta launch all the ones you need all at once without Russian being tipped off. If you do it say 5% per year, you enter a destabilizing situation where Russia's strategic nuclear forces enter into a "use it or lose it" scenario.
 
North Korea's well educated despot has studied the fate of similar regimes with and without nuclear weapons. Those in Tripoli, Belgrade and Baghdad had no nukes and are no longer with us. Those in Beijing, Islamabad and Moscow have thrived (a cynical Kim might add UK, France and US to the list). Simples!
 
skyblue said:
It would be even nicer if Starlink satellites could form the basis of Brilliant Pebbles 2.0, both space borne sensors and interceptors.

Twenty years ago Brilliant Pebbles was projected to cost $55 billion. With the recent, almost miraculous advent of reusable space launch culminating in Starship in combination with stupendous progress in AI and Starlink, it seems to me that we have all the ingredients to finally make Brilliant Pebbles possible. Maybe its not pie in the sky anymore, and surely we can do it for less than $55 billion.

Biden just signed a bill to send $13.6 Billion in aid to Ukraine, and rightly so. Certainly more will be on the way, especially if the war drags on. Imagine if we had Brilliant Pebbles overhead all this while. Would Putin dare play chicken knowing that NATO has no fear of his nuclear arsenal?
Click to expand...
Even at the time there was the DC-X being developed for a reusable LV.

Desertfox said:
The problem is that missile defense has to either be 100% or 0% effective. If you want Brilliant Pebbles, you gotta launch all the ones you need all at once without Russian being tipped off. If you do it say 5% per year, you enter a destabilizing situation where Russia's strategic nuclear forces enter into a "use it or lose it" scenario.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's the case. A country is not going to launch a nuclear attack just because you are building a shield. They will however try and design a mitigation, as the Russians did with Skif-DM, but that would cost them a lot of money. Right now there are plenty of emerging threats like the DPRK, so missile defence doesn't need to be 100% effective against a Russian/Chinese-level threat to be valuable.

The dangers of not developing a good missile defence system is that one day DPRK might/will actually build enough working missiles such that it can invade ROK and simply tell the US to f'off. Although hopefully the current state of affairs in Ukraine will dissuade China and The DPRK from fiddling with Taiwan and the ROK respectively.
 
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sferrin said:
Forest Green said:
breakingdefense.com

Budget bump allows early start for SDA's $2.5B missile tracking sats - Breaking Defense

The Space Development Agency intends to issue a solicitation for 28 "Tranche 1 Tracking Layer" satellites within the next two weeks, a senior official said, with an eye on making awards to two vendors.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
Click to expand...
Would be nice if they could slap cheap, networked, sensors on Starlink satellites. ;)
Click to expand...
I believe one of the test constellations of four satellites is a Starlink bus with a 3rd party optical package.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1548261173098856448
View: https://twitter.com/DefensePost/status/1548261173098856448

LTAMDS is a 360-degree, active electronically scanned array radar capable of detecting and tracking ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, fixed-wing aircraft, and drones.

It can reportedly defeat advanced and next-generation threats such as hypersonic weapons that fly five times faster than the speed of sound.

Part of Raytheon’s new suite of advanced radars, the LTAMDS will eventually replace the US Army’s Patriot radars.
Click to expand...
 
Moose said:
AEGIS BMD aces one of it's most challenging tests yet: Stellar Sisyphus
www.dvidshub.net

Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy Successfully Demonstrate Aegis Weapon System Capabilities against Advanced Countermeasure Missile Target

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy successfully executed Flight Test Other-23 (FTX-23) or Stellar Sisyphus, a two part developmental test of sensor tracking and communications link capabilities.
www.dvidshub.net www.dvidshub.net
Click to expand...
www.twz.com

C-17 Launching Mock Ballistic Missile Seen Like Never Before

The mock medium-range ballistic missile was launched from a C-17 as part of a recent test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system.
www.twz.com www.twz.com
 

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