Interceptor Fired From German Patriot Unit
Airmen of the German Air Force (Luftwaffe), supported by
Lockheed Martin and the US Army Lower Tier Project Office,
successfully conducted the second international PAC-3 Missile
flight test Thursday at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The test
successfully fired a PAC-3 Missile from a German Patriot fire unit
with Configuration-3 upgrades.
The test demonstrated the Patriot Configuration-3 upgrades to
the German Patriot ground system, which includes the PAC-3 Missile
Segment launcher electronics and the Fire Solution Computer that
are necessary to launch PAC-3 Missiles. This was the first time a
German Patriot launcher had executed a PAC-3 Missile launch.
"Today's successful flight test marks another significant
milestone for both the Program Executive Office Missiles and Space
and our allies," said Lt. Col. Anthony Brown, PAC-3 Product
Manager. "We continue to build on the legacy of this superb weapon
system as a key element for the free world's defense."
"Our German partners have taken an important step in improving
their air and missile defense capability with the Patriot PAC-3
System," said Mike Trotsky, vice president Air & Missile
Defense Programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We
are very proud to support our German allies in this the second
international PAC-3 Missile test."
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control of Dallas, TX is prime
contractor on the PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade to the Patriot air
defense system. The PAC-3 Missile Segment upgrade consists of the
highly agile PAC-3 Missile interceptor, the PAC-3 Missile canister
which contains four missiles in the same footprint as one Patriot
legacy missile, the Fire Solution Computer that provides
engageability solutions and the Enhanced Launcher Electronics
System (ELES), which interfaces with the entire family of Patriot
missiles.
These elements have been integrated into the German Patriot
system, a high to medium altitude, long-range air defense missile
system providing air defense of ground combat forces and high-value
assets.
The PAC-3 Missile is the worlds most advanced, capable and
lethal theater air defense missile. It is designed to counter the
evolving Patriot Air Defense System threat spectrum: tactical
ballistic missiles, evolving cruise missiles and fixed and rotary
winged aircraft. PAC-3 Missiles significantly increase the Patriot
systems firepower, since 16 PAC-3s load out on a Patriot launcher,
compared with four legacy Patriot missiles.
Lockheed Martin achieved the first-ever hit-to-kill intercept in
1984 with the Homing Overlay Experiment, using force of impact
alone to destroy a mock warhead outside of the Earth's atmosphere.
Further development and testing produced todays PAC-3 Missile. The
PAC-3 Missile has been a technology pathfinder for today's total
conversion to kinetic energy interceptors for all modern missile
defense systems.