The following is the June 1, 2015 Congressional Research Service, Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
Tag Archives: ballistic missile defense
Winnefeld: U.S., Partners’ Missile Defense Capabilities Improving as Threats Increase
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) launches a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s Aegis weapons system on June 19, 2014. US Navy Photo
The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff described the nation’s efforts in domestic and regional missile defense as “being on an upward trajectory,” smiling in acknowledging his own quip, in a speech Tuesday. Read More
Lockheed Martin Not Studying AAW for Aegis Ashore for MDA
The deckhouse for the Aegis Ashore system at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. This is the test asset for the Aegis Ashore system on Jan. 8, 2014. US Navy Photo
Lockheed Martin is not currently studying adding an anti-air warfare (AAW) capability to the Navy’s two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) installations in Romania and Poland for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the company said on Thursday correcting comments made by a company official last week during a briefing on the program. Read More
Lockheed Martin Examining Anti-Air Warfare Capability for Aegis Ashore
An artist’s conception of an Aegis Ashore battery. Lockheed-Martin Photo
Since the following story was posted, Lockheed Martin has said it was not currently studying adding an anti-air warfare (AAW) capability to Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) sites for the Missile Defense Agency. Read the follow-on story here.
Lockheed Martin is studying adding an anti-air warfare (AAW) capability to Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) sites, company officials told reporters on Friday. Read More
Document: Report to Congress on Ballistic Missile Defense in the Asia-Pacific Region
The following is the April 3, 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Ballistic Missile Defense in the Asia-Pacific Region: Cooperation and Opposition. Read More
NORAD Chief: North Korea Has Ability to Reach U.S. With Nuclear Warhead on Mobile ICBM
A mockup of a KN-08 ICBM in a parade in Pyongyang in 2012 or 2013.
PENTAGON — North Korea has the ability to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the U.S. with a nuclear weapon from a mobile launcher, according to a Department of Defense intelligence assessment cited by the head of NORAD in a Tuesday press briefing. Read More
Navy Officials: Current BMD Strategy ‘Unsustainable’; Greenert Asked Hagel for Review
A Standard Missile-3 Block 1B interceptor launches from USS Lake Erie in this photo from the record-setting test on Sept. 18, 2013. (Missile Defense Agency photo)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – As demand for regional ballistic missile defense (BMD) capabilities sharply increases, the BMD forces’ operational tempo is trying to keep pace while funding is not – leading defense officials to question if a new BMD strategy is needed. Read More
Stackley: Fleet Needs More BMD Ships to Meet Demand
Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper (DDG-70) launches a standard missile (SM) 3 Blk IA during a 2009 exercise. US Navy Photo
CRYSTAL CITY, Va. — The Navy’s acquisition chief stressed the importance of modernizing ships in the fleet – particularly the ballistic missile defense (BMD) fleet – to keep them operating for their full service life, even as tight budgets are forcing the Navy not to upgrade five Aegis guided missile destroyers with a BMD capability over the next five years. Read More
Raytheon: New Standard Missile-6 Approved for Older Navy Combat Systems
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) launches a Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) during a live-fire test of the ship’s aegis weapons system on June 19, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy has approved the Raytheon Standard Missile-6 for use on guided missile destroyers and cruisers with older versions of the Aegis combat system, company officials told USNI News last week. Read More
Former U.S. Commander in Korea: North Korea Could Use More Than Missiles to Deploy Nuclear Weapons
2012 North Korean missile test.
While the United States, Republic of Korea and Japan speak often about the nuclear missile threat posed by North Korea to all three nations, the former commander of the combined forces on the Korean peninsula said the allies may be missing a very real, but less thought about dangers. “The best way to deliver a nuclear weapon to Seoul” could be “a rickety old wooden airplane,” or a drone or a ship pulling into a nearby harbor. Read More
