BAE SYSTEMS SEEKER DETECTS TARGET AS THAAD WEAPON SYSTEM SCORES SUCCESSFUL INTERCEPT
01-29-2007
KAUAI, Hawaii — The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Weapon System detected and intercepted an incoming ballistic missile target using a BAE Systems-built seeker during a Jan. 26 test firing at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The test was conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.
Lockheed Martin is THAAD prime contractor and systems integrator.
The test examined how the interceptor and its seeker detect an incoming target missile in order to destroy it. BAE Systems’ seeker provides infrared imagery of the targeted warhead to the missile computer for use in guiding the interceptor to its target.
“This was the second time that the THAAD seeker performed in a successful intercept,” said John Watkins, BAE Systems’ THAAD program manager in Nashua, New Hampshire.
The first successful intercept by the THAAD weapon system was at White Sands, New Mexico, in July 2006, during a seeker characterization test. The seeker met all required parameters, paving the way for additional intercept testing to continue through 2009.
THAAD is designed to defend U.S. and allied soldiers, military assets, and population centers from the threat of ballistic missile attacks. To achieve the lethality required to defeat ballistic missiles, THAAD destroys them through direct “hit-to-kill” targeting.
BAE Systems began work on seekers for missile defense in the late 1970s and achieved the first hit-to-kill intercept of a ballistic missile target in 1984. BAE Systems began work on the THAAD seeker demonstration and validation contract in 1991 and achieved two hit-to-kill intercepts in 1999. The seeker development program, which started in 2000, is scheduled to conclude in December 2007. A manufacturing contract awarded in December 2006 will lead to first unit equipped in fiscal year 2009.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is a global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions, and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 88,000 employees worldwide, had 2005 sales that exceeded $22 billion, excluding the group's former interest in Airbus.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Spiller, BAE Systems
Tel: +1 603-885-2818 Mobile: +1 603-566-2090
karen.spiller@baesystems.com
Susan Lenover, BAE Systems
Tel:+1 703-907-8259 Mobile:+1 703-850-1621
susan.lenover@baesystems.com
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