MDA Director Says SM-3 Block IIA Ready for Production, Despite Safety Concerns From Co-Developer Japan

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii. MDA photo.

The U.S. military considers the development of the Standard Missile 3 Block IIA ballistic missile interceptor to be complete and the weapon ready...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/19/mda-director-says-sm-3-block-iia-ready-for-production-despite-safety-concerns-from-co-developer-japan

Japan Backing Away From Aegis Ashore

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03). MDA photo.

Japan is backing away from installing two Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems in the country over technical concerns, Minster of Defense Taro Kono told reporters on Monday.

“In view of the cost and time [necessary] for the deployment, we...

https://news.usni.org/2020/06/15/japan-backing-away-from-aegis-ashore

MDA, Army Withholding Pay as Aegis Ashore Poland Construction Still Drags

The new Naval Support Facility in Redzikowo, Poland, will be home to the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defense System(AABMDS) mission. Photo represents construction progress as of August 2019. US Navy photo.

The Missile Defense Agency and Army Corps of Engineers are taking a harsh stance with a contractor building the Aegis Ashore site in Poland, after construction delays have pushed the site’s operational date back by four years.

MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill told lawmakers today that the...

https://news.usni.org/2020/03/12/mda-army-withholding-pay-as-aegis-ashore-poland-construction-still-drags

Missile Defense Agency Shaping Strategy to Meet Evolving Challenges

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03) in 2018. MDA Photo

The Missile Defense Agency is working to up its game to meet new challenges posed by the next generation of precision-guided weapons the agency’s director said on Monday.

Vice Adm. Jon Hill, four months into his assignment, said the agency is...

https://news.usni.org/2019/10/07/missile-defense-agency-shaping-strategy-to-meet-evolving-challenges

Putin Pledges Russian Response to U.S. Cruise Missile Test

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2017. Kremlin Photo

Russia pledged a response to a Sunday test of a U.S. ground-based cruise missile the Pentagon conducted two weeks after the expiration of the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in early August.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, following a Helsinki meeting with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the speed of which the U.S. tested a modified Tomahawk Land Attack Missile indicated the Defense Department had been working on the system...

https://news.usni.org/2019/08/21/putin-pledges-russian-response-to-u-s-cruise-missile-test

Navy to Station Advanced Warships, Helo Squadron in Spain

USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) transits the Black Sea on April 21, 2014. US Navy Photo

Five years into basing four guided-missile destroyers in Spain as part of a larger European ballistic missile defense scheme, the Navy announced it will start to cycle out the warships for more modernized hulls..

The quartet will start to rotate next year with all four ships – USS Donald Cook (DDG-75), USS Ross (DDG-71), USS Porter (DDG-78) and USS Carney (DDG-64) – set to cycle out of Naval Station Rota by 2022.

They...

https://news.usni.org/2019/06/05/navy-to-station-advanced-warships-helo-squadron-in-spain

Russians Use U.S. Navy’s Aegis Ashore as Excuse to Deploy Strategic Bombers to Crimea

A Tupolev Tu-22M3 strategic bomber in 2016.
Photo by Dmitry Terekhov via wikipedia

Russian defense officials say they are deploying “squadrons” of Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers as a counter to U.S. Navy Aegis Ashore missile defense installations in Poland and Romania, according to a report in Russian state-controlled media on Monday.

In comments made to the TASS news agency, Russian lawmaker Viktor Bondarev said Russia was sending the bombers to the Gvardeyskoye airbase in Crimea in a move to...

https://news.usni.org/2019/03/18/russians-use-u-s-navys-aegis-ashore-excuse-deploy-strategic-bombers-crimea

Report to Congress on Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense

The following is the Dec. 13, 2018 Congressional Research Service report, Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

From the report

The Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations. Under the FY2019 budget submission, the number of BMD-capable Aegis ships is scheduled to be 41 at the end of FY2019...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/18/39724

VIDEO: Navy SM-3 Block IIA Scores in Ballistic Missile Test

The following is a U.S. Navy video of an SM-3 Block IIA missile test this week from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Kauai, Hawaii.

Statement From the Missile Defense Agency:

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and U.S. Navy sailors manning the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex (AAMDTC) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Kauai, Hawaii, successfully conducted Flight Test Integrated-03 (FTI-03). This was an operational live fire test demonstrating the Aegis Weapon System...

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/13/video-navy-sm-3-block-iia-scores-ballistic-missile-test

Report to Congress on Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense

The following is the Oct. 23, 2018 Congressional Research Service report Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress.

The Aegis ballistic missile defense (BMD) program, which is carried out by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Navy, gives Navy Aegis cruisers and destroyers a capability for conducting BMD operations. Under the FY2019 budget submission, the number of BMD-capable Aegis ships is scheduled to be 41 at the end of FY2019 and 57 at the...

https://news.usni.org/2018/10/25/report-congress-navy-aegis-ballistic-missile-defense-3