On the eve of the 72nd anniversary of the invasion at Pearl Harbor, the joint Lockheed Martin, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy team celebrated the Aegis light off of the land-based missile defense system, Aegis Ashore, during a ceremony at the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii.
“On this historic weekend, we are celebrating the evolution of our maritime defense capabilities and the strides we have made since that tragic day at Pearl Harbor,” said Brendan Scanlon, Lockheed Martin’s director for Aegis Ashore. “Today we’re one step closer to seeing Aegis Ashore come to life and it won’t be long before the system is operational and defending our troops, assets and European allies from ballistic missile threats.”
In less than six months, two Aegis Ashore systems have been activated and declared ready for testing on three occasions. The first Aegis light off occurred in Moorestown, N.J. in May. This system was dismantled, shipped to PMRF, and later installed. In Moorestown, the system destined for Romania in 2015 was installed and lighted off in October. The third Aegis light off has just been completed on the installed PMRF Aegis Ashore system, with the team preparing for flight tests next year.
As an essential part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, Aegis Ashore uses the proven capability of sea-based Aegis BMD and deploys it in a land-based application using the newest generation of BMD, known as BMD 5.0.
Posted January 10, 2014