A ballistic missile defense shield test went well, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced.

Integrated Ground Test 01 (GTI-01), a test of hardware, software, and communications interfaces of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), was conducted against a variety of simulated ballistic missile threats.

This was the first BMDS Integrated Ground Test in a series of exercises to assess system functionality and interoperability under increasingly stressing conditions, according to Air Force Lt. General Henry “Trey” Obering, the MDA director.

The test was conducted last month from the MDA Combined Test Force Ground Test Center at the Joint National Integration Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

This test used the MDA Missile Defense System Exerciser (MDSE) to connect and control seven BMDS Laboratories located across the United States.

This provides a capability to exercise components identical to fielded systems without launch of any targets or interceptors.

Participants from the Ballistic Missile Defense Operational Community included the Operational Test Agency, USNORTHCOM, USPACOM, the National Military Command Center, and the 100th Missile Defense Brigade.

The test provided a significant opportunity for warfighters to practice and refine tactics, techniques and procedures to defend the United States, according to MDA.

Laboratories participating in this three-week test, representing current or future operational BMDS components, included Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense of Dahlgren Va., and Moorestown, N.J.; Ground-Based Midcourse Defense, and Patriot, of Huntsville, Ala.; Space-Based Infrared System and Joint Tactical Ground Station, Azusa, Calif.; AN/TPY-2 Radar, Woburn, Mass.; and the Tactical Emulation Communication Systems.

Ground tests play a vital role in the development of new capabilities for missile defense by providing program officials with detailed information about hardware and software system performance, while reducing the cost and schedule demands that would be required to provide the same performance data through an extensive flight test program.

Ground tests enable simulated real-world threat scenarios to be simultaneously injected into geographically distributed operational sensors and weapon systems. Operational systems respond in realtime via their respective operational communications links, allowing each individual BMDS system to operate in an operationally realistic environment.

In this test, simultaneous threat conditions, simulating a concurrent theater, regional and strategic attack, were used.