The Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis Weapon System successfully guided a Standard Missile-3 to an intercept of a Theater Ballistic Missile (TBM) target over the Pacific Ocean Friday night. The Aegis Weapon System and range sensors confirmed a direct hit of the TBM target. The success of this test, sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency, moves the Navy a large step closer to fielding a sea-based ballistic defense capability.

Friday's test, Flight Mission (FM)-2, was the fourth in a series of planned demonstrations that progressively show the Navy's Aegis Weapon System's ability to engage ballistic missiles with the new four-stage SM-3. The planned series of demonstrations culminates with two exo-atmospheric "hit-to-kill" intercepts of a TBM target.

The Aegis Weapon System is designed, developed and integrated by Lockheed Martin NE&SS-Surface Systems, based in Moorestown, N.J. The heart of the system, SPY-1, is an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-function phased array radar. SPY-1 is able to perform search, track and missile guidance functions simultaneously with a large capacity to track numerous targets from the wave tops to the exo-atmosphere. The Aegis Weapon System is currently in 61 of the U.S. Navy's cruisers and destroyers, and is planned for more than 25 additional destroyers.

FM-2 is part of the Aegis Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) Intercept (ALI) Project, a stepping-stone toward the Navy's goal of a Sea- based Midcourse capability for Aegis ships. The ALI Project includes modifications to the Aegis Weapon System's phased array radar (SPY-1), Weapons Control System, Command and Control System, Vertical Launching System and integration of the SM-3. The Sea-based Midcourse capability is an element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System and is intended to provide regional protection against medium- to long-range TBMs for joint forces, seaports, inland airfields, vital political and military assets and population centers.

NE&SS-Surface Systems is one of five major lines of business comprising the Lockheed Martin NE&SS business segment. NE&SS provides surface ship and submarine weapon systems, antisubmarine warfare and ocean surveillance systems, missile launching systems, radar and sensor systems, ship systems integration services and other advanced systems and services to customers worldwide. NE&SS is a unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation headquartered in Bethesda, MD. The corporation's principal business areas are aeronautics, space, systems integration and technology services.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics & Surveillance Systems