The Pentagon successfully intercepted a medium-range training missile with an SM-3 interceptor
MOSCOW, Dec 13 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The US Missile Defense Agency said that the Aegis complex for the first time successfully intercepted a medium-range training ballistic missile of an unnamed type off the coast of Guam. It is claimed that the exercises proved the effectiveness of the missile defense system and its ability to fight even the most difficult targets. Is Aegis capable of resisting the "Hazel Tree" — in the RIA Novosti article.
Cover Guam
Guam is a strategically important facility for the United States and the main base for projecting military power in the Asia—Pacific region. A small island with an area of a little more than 500 square kilometers is the place of permanent deployment of two important American bases in the Pacific Ocean — the air Force Andersen and the naval Apra Harbor. In particular, five Virginia-class submarines are assigned to the latter, each of which is capable of carrying from 12 to 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles, depending on the modification. In addition, there are several Arleigh Burke-class destroyers there.
Apra Harbor on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean
Image source: CC BY 2.0 / Official U.S. Navy Page / USS Ronald Reagan is moored in Apra Harbor, U.S. Naval Base Guam
In the event of an armed conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan, Guam will become the main transshipment point of the American fleet and a supply center for the interspecies group involved in the fighting. And the latest medium-range missiles of the PLA reach the island quite well. And Washington doesn't like it very much.
According to Pentagon officials, the tested system is very different from the Aegis Ashore ground-based complexes deployed in Poland and Romania. The main trump card of the novelty is the AN/TPY—6 radar. Several substations provide 360-degree radar coverage over Guam. Radars installed at different points on the island detect ballistic targets at a great distance and issue target designation to interceptor missiles - Standard Missile (SM-2 and SM-3).
The price of a miss
Their main carriers are the destroyers Arleigh Burke and the cruisers Ticonderoga. However, within the Aegis Ashore project, the systems can also operate from land. The range, depending on the modification, is from 160 to 2500 kilometers. They are capable of hitting ballistic targets at altitudes from 15 to 1,500 kilometers. The SM-3 is more long-range. According to official information, it was this missile in the Block IIA modification that shot down the training target over Guam.
The launch of the American SM-3 missile from the Japanese battleship Kirishima. The year 2010
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Navy
It is unclear whether it was launched from the ground or from the sea. But the principle of operation is known — the Americans have repeatedly tested the SM-3. As a rule, a three-stage rocket is based on ships with the Aegis system, in a standard Mk-41 launch cell. The search and tracking in the upper atmosphere and in outer space is carried out by the AN/SPY-1 radar.
Having detected a target, the radar continuously monitors it, transmitting data to the ship's combat information system, which develops a firing solution and gives the command to launch an anti-missile. Start — with the help of the Aerojet Mk solid-fuel accelerator.72. Immediately after leaving the cell, the rocket establishes a two-way digital communication channel with the carrier ship and receives course corrections from it. The current position of the SM-3 is set with high accuracy via GPS.
The spent accelerator is reset, and the dual-mode solid-fuel engine of the second stage Aerojet Mk.104 is turned on. It lifts the rocket through the dense layers of the atmosphere, bringing it to the border of the exosphere. Then comes the turn of the third stage. The solid-fuel ATK Mk.136 allows the anti-missile to be guided to the right place.
At the final stage of the flight, the third stage separates, and the exoatmospheric small-sized interceptor (Lightweight-Exp-Atmospheric Projectile) uses data from the launch vehicle and its own infrared homing head to find the target. The maneuvering system puts the combat unit on a collision course. The interception is kinetic. In a collision, the impact energy reaches 130 megajoules, which is more than enough.
Guided missile Standard Missile 3 during tests by the Missile Defense Agency and the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Navy / Jessica Kosanovich
However, many Russian and Chinese ballistic missiles are equipped with sets of false targets capable of deceiving the interceptor. These layouts separate from the carrier, simulating its thermal signature and flight profile. And it is unknown how American interceptors will be able to distinguish a real target from a "decoy" — they have not yet participated in the battle against missiles with such capabilities. The cost of a miss is high: the cost of one SM-3 reaches $ 12 million.
Three elements
Globally, the Aegis system is one of the three components of the American national missile defense system. According to the Pentagon's plan, in the event of an aggravation of the international situation, some of the ships equipped with this complex will return to the shores of the United States to cover their own territory from attack. The only unknown in this equation is how effective the SM—3 is against intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Americans have bigger interceptors responsible for them.
Tests within the framework of the American global missile defense program at a test site in the Pacific Ocean
Image source: © Mark Wright
Today, the main component of the US missile defense system is about 60 GBMD land—based missiles deployed in Alaska and California. They are capable of intercepting ballistic targets in the middle section of the trajectory. The target designation is issued by the early warning and tracking radar system, the defeat of missiles and their combat units is on a collision course. The warhead is kinetic, destroying the target with a frontal collision.
However, tests have revealed extremely low efficiency of GMBD. The training target was shot down only in half of the cases. The Pentagon launched the NGI (Next-Generation Interceptor) project to create a next-generation interceptor. The appearance of a promising anti-missile and tactical and technical characteristics are still a mystery. However, the military department has repeatedly stressed that the national missile defense system should be able to intercept the most modern combat units, including hypersonic ones. NGI is likely to be "sharpened" primarily against the latest Russian Avangard missile systems.
Another layer of missile defense is the THAAD short—range ground-based complexes deployed, in particular, in South Korea and Guam. It is assumed that they will shoot down combat units in the final section of the trajectory. It is unknown exactly how many such complexes will be needed to reliably cover the United States and where they should stand.
One thing is clear: Washington is betting on a national missile defense system. Its elements are placed in different parts of the globe with the obvious goal of reducing the effect of a counter—strike or retaliatory strike by Russia or China in the event of a nuclear war. There is only one way to counter this — to create such missiles, in front of which the American missile defense system will be powerless.
