Army tests PAC3 missile at White Sands
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Army News Service, Feb. 21, 2002) -- The Missile Defense Agency and the 2/43rd Air Defense Artillery Battalion conducted a test of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 system Feb. 16 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
A PAC-2 missile successfully intercepted and destroyed a QF-4 full-scale drone aircraft. However a second PAC-2 missile and a PAC-3 missile missed their assigned sub-scale targets. The causes of the two intercept failures are currently under investigation, officials said.
The test was conducted as a simultaneous engagement in which one PAC-3 missile was to engage and intercept a cruise missile target, while two PAC-2 missiles were to engage and intercept a full-scale aircraft emitting radar-jamming signals and another sub-scale aircraft.
The mission was designed to replicate as closely as possible an actual battlefield scenario, officials said, with three targets and three missiles in the air at one time.
Patriot's sophisticated system logic selects the most efficient missile for each engagement, officials explained. In this case, a combination of Raytheon's PAC-2 and Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 missiles were used.
The Army's mix of missiles for the future force, officials said, will include both PAC-3 and an upgraded PAC-2 missile, called GEM+, currently in production.
In addition to the target intercepts, the test was supposed to demonstrate successful interaction of all system elements -- including radar, command and control equipment and target identification systems.
Soldiers of the 2nd of the 43rd Air Defense Artillery Battalion, from Fort Bliss, Texas, participated in the test by running it as a tactical firing mission. It was the first of four operational flight tests planned during Initial Operational Test and Evaluation for the PAC-3 system, scheduled to conclude in May.
The Army Test and Evaluation Command is conducting the tests. Formed in 1999 when the Army consolidated developmental and operational testing and evaluation into a single command, ATEC has been deeply involved in the PAC-3 program.
The PAC-3 missile is a high velocity, hit-to-kill missile and is the next generation Patriot being developed to provide increased defense against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hostile aircraft, officials said. They explained that unlike earlier Patriot missile explosive warheads, the PAC-3 missile literally collides with its target in mid-air at extremely high speed, destroying the target and neutralizing its payload.
Other system upgrades include improved radar performance, allowing enhanced target discrimination; and new system software that improves determination of target launch and impact points and provides an interface with the Theater High Altitude Area Defense system known as THAAD.
Prior to today's test, the PAC-3 system had completed two controlled test flights, five tactical ballistic missile body-to-body intercepts, three cruise missile kills, and one aircraft kill resulting in 11 successful developmental flight tests.
The Patriot PAC-3 program is managed by the Missile Defense Agency in Washington, D.C., and executed by the Army Program Executive Office for Air and Missile Defense and the Army Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Project Office in Huntsville, Ala.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is the prime contractor responsible for the PAC-3 missile segment. Raytheon Company is the prime contractor responsible for the Patriot air and missile defense system and the system integrator for the PAC-3 program.
(Editor's note: Information provided by the Air and Missile Defense Project Office in Huntsville, Ala.)
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