Aegis Test Successful

The Missile Defense Agency successfully completed a test of its Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense weapon system Feb. 24. The test involved firing three short-range missiles from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Two Navy Aegis ballistic-missile defense destroyers tracked the flights and targets. The vessels then simulated Standard Missile-3 Block IB guided missile engagements, with their distributed weighted engagement scheme (DWES) capabilities enabled. With the DWES, weapon system was able to determine which of the Aegis ships was the preferred shooter. Then, the system engaged several fire control, discrimination and engagement functions. Because no target missiles were launched, the test did not involve interception of a target. The test marked the first time DWES was used, and will allow program managers to assess the ability of the Aegis system to simulate a raid involving three short-range missiles.