On November 1, the Navy’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 8 executed live-fire exercises against simulated enemy missile fire with radar data coming from the guard ship. Three unmanned aircraft imitating missiles were fired at the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) while radar systems from the USS Normandy (CG 60) guided missile cruiser tracked the...
On October 6, vessels from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom participating in the inaugural Formidable Shield 2017 (FS17) exercise tested the ships’ ballistic and cruise missile defense capabilities. Designed to improve NATO allied interoperability in an integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) environment, FS17 tested participants’...
On June 29, the U.S. State Department approved a $1.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan. The sale features seven main items, including technical support for an early warning radar system, upgrades for several torpedo systems, and components for the SM-2 missile. Congress will review the agreement and then negotiate the specific equipment and monetary value...
On May 23, the USS Mason (DDG-87) was awarded the 2016 Battenberg Cup, which is presented annually to the best-all around ship or submarine in the United States Navy’s Atlantic Fleet based on crew achievements. While the ship was recognized for the entire deployment, the citation singled out a string of incidents in the vicinity...
Gaps in coverage leave interceptors less-equipped to defeat the threats of tomorrow. No missile defense is better than the sensors that tell the interceptors where to go and what to kill. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, draws upon considerably more sensors for homeland defense than when operations began in 2004, but shortfalls remain....
On October 9, the USS Mason fired two Standard Missile-2 Block IV interceptors and an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile in response to multiple cruise missiles launched at it and the USS Ponce off the coast of Yemen. The attack comes after a cruise missile launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen struck a UAE vessel on...
Several recent tests suggest progress for both ballistic and cruise missile defenses. On June 22, a Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) successfully destroyed a long-range target high above the Pacific. As the only system for homeland missile defense, the GBI test represents a welcome departure from three past intercept failures in 2010 and 2013, which involved both...
