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Missile Defense Elements Participate in Air Force Test

08-NEWS-0005
3 April 2008

Air Force Lieutenant General Henry “Trey” Obering, Missile Defense Agency (MDA) director, announced today the successful completion of an exercise held April 2 involving Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) elements participating in a routine operational test of a U.S. Air Force strategic missile from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., as a “target of opportunity.”

Operational elements of the BMDS, including Beale AFB Upgraded Early Warning Radar, and the Space-Based Infrared System, successfully detected and tracked the long-range missile.

These sensors provided acquisition and track data to the BMDS Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications (C2BMC) system using operational communications links. This test demonstrated the command and control element’s ability to integrate data from a variety of sensors to improve the system’s accuracy and responsiveness in detecting, identifying, tracking and targeting hostile ballistic missiles.

The Sea-Based X-Band Radar also tracked the long-range missile and collected data for post-mission analysis.

The Air Force test, called Glory Trip 196, was part of a continuing program to evaluate and demonstrate the operational readiness of our ground-based strategic deterrent force. The ability to utilize a target of opportunity allows MDA to conduct numerous important exercises and obtain extensive data without incurring the expense associated with launching a test-specific target missile.

Contact: Rick Lehner, Missile Defense Agency, at (703) 697-8997 or richard.lehner@mda.mil.