Naval Air Warfare Center Hosts SM-3 Block IIA Live-Fire Missile Test

By Tactical-Life

The following is a release from Kimberly Brown, NAWCWD Public Affairs:

Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, Calif., hosted a live-fire test of the Standard Missile-3 Block IIA missile, a 21-inch diameter Standard Missile variant cooperatively developed by the United States and Japan for use with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program, on Dec. 8.

• RELATED STORY: USS Ross Intercepts Ballistic Missile Target in Coalition Test

This is the second such test of the SM-3 Block IIA on the Point Mugu Sea Range; the first took place June 6.

The Japan Ministry of Defense Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Navy, successfully completed a flight test from the Point Mugu Sea Range, launching from a special land-based launch site on San Nicolas Island. Although the missile is designed for eventual use in Aegis-equipped ships, none participated in this live-fire test.

The Point Mugu Sea Range was selected to support the test in part because of the ability to isolate the launch on Navy-owned San Nicolas Island, located 60 miles from shore. That distance from the populated mainland increases the margin of safety for live-fire …Read the Rest

Source:: Tactical Life