AFRL Captures Real-Time Video for Ballistic Missile Test

  • Published
  • By Directed Energy Directorate
  • AFRL/DE
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  AFRL engineers tracked and collected data on a successful missile defense intercept test at the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), located off the Hawaiian island of Kauai. They fed real-time video to the control center, successfully capturing the intercept of a Scud-type ballistic missile launched from a mobile platform positioned in the Pacific Ocean off Kauai. The "hit to kill" interceptor launched from the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) launch complex at the PMRF, which is the world's largest instrumented multienvironment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously. 

This THAAD interceptor mission marks a significant accomplishment for both the Missile Defense Agency THAAD program and the AFRL Maui Space Surveillance Site (MSSS) activity--it is the first such mission considered a test of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS), given that more than one element of the BMDS program participated in the test activity. Test elements included net-centric command and control communication links, missile/interceptor launches from the PMRF site, target identification, target interception, radar tracking, and hit assessment algorithms. 

AFRL collected images of the intercept and debris cloud, providing critical information on both kill assessment and lethality. These resolved images verify the target and kill vehicle impact point. The data and analysis improve real-time kill assessment algorithms for the BMDS. Once fully developed, tested, and deployed, the BMDS will serve the US homeland and its deployed force, friends, and allies as a layered defense against ballistic missiles of all ranges, in all phases of flight. 

AFRL's MSSS is a state-of-the-art electro-optical facility combining operational satellite tracking capabilities with a research and development program; the site also houses several telescopes--one of which is the largest within the Department of Defense. Space object tracking occurs via telescopes, low-light-level video cameras, and computers. The midwave adaptive optics system was the primary electro-optic sensor for the THAAD test because it captures images at a very high frame rate.