PACIFIC MISSILE RANGE FACILITY, Hawaii - The U.S. Navy successfully conducted a simultaneous Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) flight test with the AN/SPY-6(V) Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) off the west coast of Hawaii, Sept. 7.
At 1:38 p.m., Hawaii Standard Time, (7:38 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time) a short-range ballistic missile target and multiple air-to-surface cruise missile targets were simultaneously launched. AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR searched for, detected and maintained track on all targets throughout the trajectories. The flight test, designated Vigilant Talon, is the third in a series of ballistic missile defense flight tests for the AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR.
"This radar was specifically designed to handle ballistic missiles and cruise missiles simultaneously, and it's doing just that," said Capt. Seiko Okano, major program manager for Above Water Sensors, Program Executive Office (PEO) Integrated Warfare Systems (IWS). "AMDR is successfully demonstrating performance in a series of increasingly difficult test events and is on track to deliver advanced capability to the Navy's first Flight III Destroyer."
Based on preliminary data, the test successfully met its primary objectives against a complex short range ballistic missile and multiple air-to-surface cruise missile simultaneous targets. Program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
The culmination of over a decade of Navy investment in advanced radar technology, AN/SPY-6(V) AMDR is being designed for the DDG 51 Flight III destroyer to provide the U.S. Navy with state-of-the-art technology for Integrated Air and Missile Defense.
PEO IWS, an affiliated PEO of the Naval Sea Systems Command, manages surface ship and submarine combat technologies and systems and coordinates Navy enterprise solutions across ship platforms.