Aegis Weapon System Matched With Aerojet Rocketdyne Missile Target in MDA Test

Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies unit developing and manufacturing advanced propulsion and energetics systems, has supplied the Missile Defense Agency with the medium-range ballistic missile target used in the Flight Test Other-23 that the MDA conducted with the U.S. Navy. 

According to a DVIDS report, FTX-23 involved a developmental test on the Aegis Weapon System capabilities on sensor tracking and communications links. The test used two Aegis ships and the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex in Kauai, Hawaii, to collect target scene data of an MRBM deploying its countermeasures, Aerojet Rocketdyne said.

Seeking to fortify U.S. missile defense capabilities, the test also fired a Standard Missile-3 Block IIA against Aerojet Rocketdyne’s MRBM target. FTX-23 is Rocketdyne’s 38th launch mission to support the U.S. missile defense program.

Ross Niebergall, Aerojet Rocketdyne president, said the MRBM target and its C-17 cargo aircraft launch system offer smooth test execution in remote sites worldwide.

Aerojet Rocketdyne’s Coleman plant in Florida designs and manufactures MRBM Type 1 and Type 2 targets. Other company contributions to missile tests include integrated logistics support, such as engineering services and pre- and post-test analysis.