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ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org), has gone on record about the significance of the missile defense test on Friday, July 18th, 2008 by declaring that the system is capable of using a variety of sensors to detect countermeasures and decoys.
"Last Friday evening in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States for the first time, successfully integrated and validated four diverse tracking and discriminatory sensor radars against a three stage, long range ballistic missile dispersing countermeasures and decoys over the Pacific Ocean. The test integrated the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) in the Pacific, the Aegis Destroyer USS Milius (DD-79) with its SPY -1 radar in the northern pacific, the mobile forward based X-band Radar (AN/TPY-2 X-band) located in Juneau, Alaska and an upgraded early warning Radar located at the Beale AFB near Yuba City, California. The real time accumulation of data from the four radar sources to make the exact target coordinates of the warhead was accomplished, validating the United States capability to initially deal with complex future ballistic missile threats. This achievement affirms the current technology to track and discriminate a warhead with countermeasures and decoys of future ballistic missile configurations."
"The successful coordinated sensor test came a week after the Czech Republic and United State's agreement to base a European Midcourse Radar (EMR) to track and discriminate ballistic missiles and their warheads that would fly in European air space. The Minister of Defence for the Czech Republic, Vlasta Parkanova was in attendance among other high ranking U.S. officials at the Missile Defense Integration and Operating Center (MDIOC) at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado Springs to observe the value of X-band radars as an asset for national and global security. The Sea-Based X-Band radar used in the test is similar to the European Midcourse Radar that will be deployed in the Czech Republic."
"These four radars were coordinated in the command and control facility for missile defense at MDIOC. After getting cueing from a Defense Satellite (DSP) that a launch had taken occurred at 1:47 p.m. Alaska time, each of these radars tracked and looked very precisely at the incoming ballistic missile, its warhead, countermeasures and decoys as it traveled south from Kodiak Island, Alaska over the Pacific Ocean. The forward based X-band radar and the Aegis Destroyer were the first to track the missile followed by the SBX and the Beale Radar. The MDIOC was able to continually look at all of the four radar's sensor information to validate and choose the best track to interecept the warhead launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska. This information would be uploaded several times to a missile defense interceptor prior to launch during the flight and prior to intercept."
At the end of this year the United States is expected to conduct a test of the Ground-Based Interceptor from Vandenberg AFB, California in a similar scenario to seek and destroy a ballistic missile warhead amongst decoys and countermeasures."
Ellison closed his remarks by saying, "This test marks an important technical achievement as it enables capability to missile defense interceptors that hedges against next generation ballistic missiles."
Riki Ellison is available for on-the-record interviews about the test and any other relevant subject about the missile defense program. Call Mike Terrill at 602 885-1955 to arrange an interview.
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