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U.S. Department of Defense - Missile Defense Agency

U.S. Department of Defense - Missile Defense Agency

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Fact Sheets

The fact sheets below provide information on the Missile Defense System and various supporting efforts.

Missile Defense Overview

Missile Defense Overview	Description
Ballistic Missile Defense System	General overview of the entire Ballistic Missile Defense System. Discusses the three phases of a missile's trajectory path and describes the development plan for the system.

Elements

Elements	Description
Sea-based Systems	Integrates the Aegis Combat System installed on U.S. Navy ships deployed around the world with the Standard Missile-3 to provide protection against short to intermediate range ballistic missile threats.
Aegis Ashore	Aegis Ashore is the planned future land-based component of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Aegis Ashore leverages the proven, present and future Aegis BMD capabilities to adapt to the evolving ballistic missile security environment.
AN/TPY2 Radar	The Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance, or AN/TPY-2, operates in the X-band frequency, and is capable of tracking and identifying small objects at long distances.
Cobra Dane Radar	The Air Force COBRA DANE radar in Shemya, Alaska has been upgraded to add the Missile Defense mission and to integrate the radar into the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
LRDR	The Missile Defense Agency is working to develop and deliver the congressionally mandated Long Range Discrimination Radar, or LRDR, as described in the Fiscal Year 2014 and 2016 National Defense Authorization Acts. The LRDR will be a component of the United States layered Missile Defense System (MDS) with the primary mission to provide continuous and precise tracking and discrimination of missile threats to the United States.
Command, Control, Battle Management and Communications	The overall integrator of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. This element ensures that all of the separate defense system elements work together as a single system rather than a collection of unlinked pieces.
Ground-based Midcourse Defense	Designed to intercept and destroy enemy ballistic missiles during their midcourse phase of flight using sensors for early detection and tracking and ground-based interceptors to destroy the target through force of collision.
PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3	The PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) system, currently operational with the U.S. Army, is a land-based element capable of destroying short to medium range threats using hit-to-kill technology.
Sea Based X-Band Radar	A unique combination of an advanced X-band radar with a mobile, ocean-going, semi-submersible platform that provides the Ballistic Missile Defense System with a detection and discrimination capability that can be positioned to cover any part of the globe.
Spacebased Kill Assessment	A planned network of small sensors hosted on commercial satellites. The individual sensors will house three infrared detectors designed to collect the energy signature of the impact between a threat ballistic missile and an interceptor of the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
Space Tracking and Surveillance System	Designed to be a constellation of satellites in low-earth orbit, each having a set of infrared and visible sensors for detecting and tracking ballistic missiles.
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense	A rapidly-transportable, forward-deployable capability that will intercept and destroy ballistic missiles in and above the atmosphere while they are in their final, or terminal, phase of flight.
Upgraded Early Warning Radars	Upgrades to existing Early Warning Radars will improve midcourse Ballistic Missile Defense System sensor coverage by providing critical early warning, tracking, and cueing data while retaining legacy missile warning and space track missions.

Supporting Efforts

Supporting Efforts	Description
Targets and Countermeasures	Designs, develops, fabricates and provides capabilities-driven, reliable and cost-effective ballistic missile targets and countermeasures to be used in the Ballistic Missile Defense System's test and assessment program.
Integration and Operations Center	Research and development, agency operations, test and evaluations, and operations and training for missile defense capabilities.
Missile Defense Test Program	The Agency's test program provides critical data to demonstrate the performance of the Missile Defense System and its elements.
Innovation, Science & Technology	MDA)MDA's Innovation, Science, & Technology (DV) directorate explores new system concepts, matures key technology components and executes rapid prototyping efforts by leveraging ongoing efforts across the Department of Defense, United States and Allies to deliver Advanced Concepts and Technologies to transform the future Missile Defense System.

International Cooperation

International Cooperation	Description
U.S. - Romania Missile Defense Agreement	The United States welcomes the strong commitment of Romania to join a growing group of allies and partners that are contributing to efforts to counter existing and emerging ballistic missile threats in the Twenty-First Century.

Previous Programs

Previous Programs	Description
The Airborne Laser Test Bed	The Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) was a platform for the Department of Defense's directed energy research program.
Near Field InfraRed Experiment (NFIRE)	The Near Field Infrared Experiment (NFIRE) technology project is operated by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) from the Missile Defense Space Development Center at Schriever AFB, Colorado. The satellite's primary mission is to collect near-field phenomenology data for use in plume-to-hard body handover algorithms, navigation, guidance and control, and endgame homing algorithms for boost-phase interceptor programs.
Precision Tracking Space System	The Precision Tracking Space System (PTSS) was a planned space-borne sensor of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), designed to track ballistic missiles shortly after launch and throughout their midcourse flight.