The following was released today by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense:

The Patriot PAC-3 Missile system achieved another success during a flight test Friday, July 28, at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The missile successfully intercepted and destroyed a cruise missile surrogate target. The system performed satisfactorily and the cruise missile target was tracked and destroyed in accordance with the test plan. This was the second successful intercept of a surrogate cruise missile by the PAC-3 system in less than a week.

The PAC-3 Missile is a high velocity, hit-to-kill missile and is the next generation PATRIOT missile being developed to provide increased defense capability against advanced tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hostile aircraft. The PAC-3 Missile uses kinetic energy to destroy its ballistic missile targets and employs a fragmenting warhead called a lethality enhancer against air breathing targets. The PAC-3 Missile successfully completed six missions prior to this flight test. The first two PAC-3 developmental test (DT) missions did not involve targets, but were structured to verify critical systems and missile performance prior to conducting target intercept flight tests. A seeker characterization flight (SCF) mission was conducted March 15, 1999, to test a PAC-3 Missile with a seeker. Although not a primary objective of the SCF, an intercept of the target was achieved. On September 16, 1999, a second intercept test was successful. DT-5, conducted Feb. 5, 2000, was a successful intercept of a Hera ballistic missile target. The most recent test, DT-7, was a successful intercept of a cruise missile surrogate on July 22, 2000.

The Patriot program is managed by the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization in Washington, DC, and executed by the U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense and the Army Patriot Project Office in Huntsville, Ala. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is the prime contractor responsible for the missile segment. The seeker is produced by Boeing in Huntsville, Ala. Raytheon Systems Company, the PATRIOT system prime contractor, is the system integrator for the PAC-3 Missile segment.

SOURCE: U.S. Army Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense