Launching of Virginia-class submarine Indiana. HII Photo
Large military contractors are indicating they’re now ready to invest in their facilities and manufacturing capacity despite so much uncertainty around the Pentagon’s spending levels this current year and into Fiscal Year 2019. Read More
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2017.
The following is part of a series. Please also see Top Stories 2017: Navy Acquisition, Navy Operations, Marine Corps Operations, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Acquisition, International Operations and New Administration.
U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy Sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Taking out incoming missiles during the boost phase – the period just after launch – is something the military’s missile defense leadership is confident will occur in the not too distant future.
A medium-range ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai, Hawaii, during Flight Test Standard Missile-27 Event 2 (FTM-27 E2) on Aug. 29 (HST). MDA Photo
Two missiles launched from the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) bullseyed a complex medium-range ballistic missile target in a successful test off Hawaii, the Missile Defense Agency announced on Wednesday. Read More
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii. MDA photo.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Aegis ballistic missile defense program is making steady improvements on both Navy ships and the Aegis Ashore system being installed as part of the enhanced European defense initiative, the director of the Missile Defense Agency said on Wednesday. Read More
Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Complex in Devesulu, Romania. MDA Photo
THE PENTAGON — Japan is giving further consideration to acquiring the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system following the Sunday test of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile, Japan’s defense minister told a Diet committee this week. Read More
The following is U.S. Forces Korea video of the U.S. Army Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense (BMD) system arriving in South Korea on March 6, 2017. Read More
A SM-6 Dual I fired from USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) during a Dec. 14, 2016 MDA BMD test. MDA Photo
The Missile Defense Agency proved it could intercept a complicated medium range ballistic missile target with the Navy’s SM-6 missile, the agency announced. Read More
The heavy lift vessel MV Blue Marlin sits moored in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with the Sea Based X-Band Radar (SBX) in 2016, US Navy Photo
The ultra-sensitive radar the U.S. uses to track ballistic missile targets was deployed off North Korea in September, according to local press reports. Read More
USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test involving the launch of a medium-range ballistic missile target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility located on Kauai, Hawaii on May 17, 2016. MDA Photo
MOORESTOWN, N.J. – A planned October ballistic missile defense test from an Aegis destroyer will be the first outing for Lockheed Martin’s upgraded integrated air and missile defense software build, company officials told USNI News last week. Read More
