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A Raytheon Standard Missile-3 Block IB fired from the USS Lake Erie has destroyed another ballistic missile target. The test marks the 21st successful intercept for the SM-3 program, a critical piece of the United States' Phased Adaptive Approach for missile defense.

The target was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai. The USS Lake Erie, deployed off the coast of Hawaii, picked up the threat on its SPY-1 radar and launched the SM-3 Block IB in response. Using the sheer kinetic force of a massive collision, the SM-3 Block IB destroyed the threat target in space.

The SM-3 is a defensive weapon used by the U.S. Navy to destroy short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles. The newest variant, the SM-3 Block IB, incorporates an enhanced two-color infrared seeker and the Throttleable Divert and Attitude Control System, a mechanism that uses short bursts of precision propulsion to steer the missile toward incoming targets.

The SM-3 destroys incoming ballistic missile threats by colliding with them, a concept sometimes described as "hitting a bullet with a bullet." The impact is the equivalent of a 10-ton truck traveling at 600 mph.

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More from Lockheed Martin:

Intercepted a separating ballistic missile target with the second generation of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, AegisBMD 4.0.1, and the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB missile.

During the test known as Flight Test Mission-18 (FTM-18), Aegis BMD 4.0.1 successfully detected, tracked and engaged the ballistic missile target in the most challenging operational environment to date, demonstrating its capabilities to engage the world's increasingly sophisticated ballistic missile threats. FTM-18 marked the eighth time the USS Lake Erie (CG 70) and her crew have successfully performed during Navy and MDA at-sea test events against cruise and ballistic missile threats using Aegis BMD 4.0.1.

The test also marks an important milestone for the second phase of the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) to missile defense in Europe. AegisBMD 4.0.1 and the SM-3 Block IB missile will be a shipboard configuration used in the European Theater supporting PAA Phase 2.

The Aegis BMD 4.0.1 configuration, certified in March, is operational on two Navy ships with installations underway on two more ships. Its signal processor enables the Navy to defeat more sophisticated ballistic missile threats as a result of improved target identification capabilities.

The central component of the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis Combat System is the SPY-1 radar, the most widely fielded naval phased array radar in the world. The Aegis system and SPY-1 radar provide the U.S. and allied nations with advanced surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense capabilities.

The next planned BMD evolution will combine air defense and missile defense functionality into a single integrated air and missile defense system.

The MDA and the Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the United States' Ballistic Missile Defense System. Currently, a total of 28 Aegis BMD-equipped warships - 24 in the U.S. Navy and four in theJapanese Maritime Self-Defense Force - have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and tracking missions. The number of BMD ships is expected to increase to 36 by 2014.