DALLAS, March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Missile successfully intercepted and destroyed an incoming tactical ballistic
missile (TBM) target at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., on Thursday. This
was the second Operational Test of the PAC-3 system.
Soldiers from the Second Battalion of the 43rd Air Defense Artillery
Regiment, Ft. Bliss, Texas, conducted launch operations for the test. In
addition to the PAC-3 intercept of the TBM, a PAC-2 missile was fired at an
air-breathing target.
"The PAC-3 Missile is proven, fielded technology," said Mike Trotsky, vice
president - Air Defense Programs for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire
Control. "There are no other fielded interceptors that have PAC-3's power to
negate ballistic missiles armed with weapons of mass destruction, as well as
cruise missiles and other air threats. The PAC-3 Missile and its first-to-
the-field hit-to-kill technology represent an extraordinary success story for
our Army and Missile Defense Agency customers."
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is the prime
contractor responsible for the PAC-3 Missile segment upgrade to the Patriot
air defense system, which consists of the PAC-3 Missile, the missile
canisters, the Fire Solution Computer and the Enhanced Launcher Electronics
System. The PAC-3 System is managed by the U.S. Army's Lower Tier Project
Office, and is sponsored by the Missile Defense Agency, formerly the Ballistic
Missile Defense Organization.
The PAC-3 Missile entered the Low-Rate Initial Production phase in late
1999. The first production PAC-3 Missiles were delivered to the Army in
September 2001. Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control officially opened
the new PAC-3 Missile All-Up Round production facility in Camden, Ark., on
March 8, 2002.
The PAC-3 Missile is a high velocity, hit-to-kill missile and is the next
generation Patriot missile being developed to provide increased capability
against advanced theater ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hostile
aircraft. The PAC-3 Missile defeats incoming targets by direct, body-to-body
impact. The PAC-3 Missiles, when deployed in a Patriot battery, will
significantly increase the Patriot system's firepower, since 16 PAC-3 Missiles
load-out on a Patriot launcher, compared with four of the PAC-2 Patriot
missiles.
PAC-3 is one of the world's most sophisticated technologies. The PAC-3
Missile flights:
-- Two successful Control Test Flights (September 29 and
December 15, 1997)
-- March 15, 1999 - Successful intercept of TBM
-- September 16, 1999 - Successful intercept of TBM
-- February 5, 2000 - Successful intercept of TBM
-- July 22, 2000 - Successful intercept of low-flying cruise missile
-- July 28, 2000 - Successful intercept of low-flying cruise missile
-- October 14, 2000 - Successful intercept of TBM
-- March 31, 2001 - First "Tactical Ripple Mode" test -- successful
intercept of TBM by first PAC-3 Missile; successful tactical self-
destruct of second PAC-3 Missile
-- July 9, 2001 - Successful intercept of an F-4 remotely piloted
aircraft by PAC-3 Missile; second PAC-3 Missile fails to intercept TBM
due to communications bus anomaly
-- October 19, 2001 - Successful intercept of advanced cruise missile
-- February 16, 2002 - PAC-3 Missile received incorrect cue: intercept
not possible
-- March 21, 2002 - Successful intercept of TBM
In addition to these PAC-3 Missile flight tests, the PAC-3's predecessor
missile, the Extended-Range Interceptor, demonstrated three hits in a row
during the demonstration/validation program in 1994. Two of those tests
involved TBM targets and one involved an air-breathing target (simulating a
cruise missile or aircraft).
The PAC-3 Missile has been selected as the primary interceptor for the
multi-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). Managed by the
NATO MEADS Management Agency (NAMEADSMA), MEADS is a model transatlantic
development program focused on the next generation of air and missile defense.
MEADS will focus on risk reduction, application of key technologies and
validation of a system design incorporating the PAC-3 Missile.
Employing more than 8,500 people, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire
Control is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with additional base operations in
Orlando, Fla., and manufacturing and assembly facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif.,
Chelmsford, Mass., Camden, Ark., Horizon City and Lufkin, Texas, Ocala, Fla.,
White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and Troy, Ala. The company is a business
unit of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Bethesda, Md.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a
global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and
services.
SOURCE Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control
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Related links:
http://www.lmco.com
CONTACT:
Craig Vanbebber, Senior Manager - Media &
Trade Relations of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control,
+1-972-603-1615, or craig.vanbebber@lmco.com
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