Lockheed Martin Target Missiles Work Well, Company Reports

Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] has launched a dozen target missiles successfully since 2005, the company announced.

The company did so under a targets and countermeasures contract with the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

Lockheed provides unarmed targets designed to represent adversary missiles to permit realistic testing of the weapon systems and other elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.

The company is providing an increasing percentage of the target missiles acquired by the Missile Defense Agency through various mechanisms.

Lockheed team members have successfully launched unitary and separating short- and medium-range targets via ground, sea and air to support MDA tests:

Two missions to date in 2008 — a sea-launched missile for the June 5 Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System Flight Test Maritime-14 (FTM-14) intercept test; and an air- launched missile for the June 25 Flight Test Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Flight Test THAAD-09 (FTT-09) intercept test.

Five missions in 2007 — a sea-launched missile for the Jan. 27 THAAD FTT-06 intercept test; a sea-launched missile for the April 6 THAAD FTT-07 intercept test; a ground- launched missile for the June 22 Aegis FTM-12 intercept test; a sea-launched missile for the Oct. 27 THAAD FTT-08 intercept test; and a ground-launched missile for the Dec. 17 Aegis Japan Flight Test Mission (JFTM-1) intercept test.

Three missions in 2006 — a scientific payload launch for the April 13 Critical Measurements/ Countermeasures test; a scientific payload launch for the April 28 Critical Measurements/Countermeasures test; and a ground-launched missile for the June 22 Aegis FTM-10 intercept test.

Two missions in 2005 – an air-launched missile for the Sept. 26 Cobra Dane Radar Exercise; and a ground-launched missile for the Nov. 17 Aegis FTM-04-02 intercept test.

The Missile Defense Agency’s Targets and Countermeasures Program Office in Huntsville, Ala., acquires targets for tests from several sources, including other government agencies and individual industry contractors, in addition to Lockheed. The Targets and Countermeasures Program operates independently of the missile defense weapon systems programs at the government-to-government level and maintains stringent processes to assure testing integrity.