Scott Nicholas
A team that includes the Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin have conducted the first shipboard demonstration of the latest version of a Lockheed-produced  ballistic missile defense system.
Lockheed said Monday the Aegis Baseline 9.C2 (BMD 5.1) combat system underwent the developmental test onboard the USS John Paul Jones and worked to detect, track and intercept a medium-range ballistic missile target.
“This exercise included a series of tests to verify the operation of the Aegis BMD 5.1 Weapon System aboard ship,” said Paul Klammer, director of the Aegis BMD program.
The test builds on the U.S. Phased Adaptive Approach on ways to defend Europe from ballistic missile attacks and supports the BMD 5.1 certification slated for 2018, Lockheed added.
Aegis BMD 5.1 combines BMD, anti-air warfare and integrated air and missile defense functionalities using commercial off-the-shelf and open architecture technologies.
Lockheed said it will also develop and deploy a BMD 5.1 variant computer program called J7Â for Japan’s Aegis destroyers.
The Aegis BMD combat system uses the SPY-1Â phased array radar to offer surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense functions for the U.S. and allied nations.
