Aim high

[unixronin]

Remember that failed US spy satellite (presumed to be a KH-12) that's coming down?  Not to let a good thing go to waste, the US Navy is planning to shoot it down tomorrow after Atlantis is safely back on the ground, using a missile fired from an AEGIS cruiser in the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii.

"If we miss, nothing changes," said NASA administrator Michael Griffin.  "If we shoot and barely touch it, the satellite is just barely in orbit" and would still burn up somewhat in the atmosphere, he said.

"If we shoot and get a direct hit, that's a clean kill and we're in good shape," he added.

The missile will be a modified Raytheon RIM-161B Standard SM-3 Block 1-a fired from an Aegis BMD-equipped ship.  At present, BMD-equipped ships are the three Ticonderoga-class cruisers USS Lake Erie (CG-70), USS Shiloh (CG-67), and USS Port Royal (CG-73), plus the enhanced Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Decatur (DDG-73).  Current information indicates the USS Lake Erie, which has taken part in the majority of Aegis BMD tests to date, will also be the launch vessel for this shot.

The RIM-161, however, has a declared maximum altitude stated only as "greater than 100 miles", whereas the Navy intends to fire at the satellite as it begins to re-enter about 150 miles up.  From this we can infer that either the actual altitude capability of the RIM-161B is significantly greater than the unclassified specifications indicate (not unlikely), or the Block 1-a upgrade includes a significant increase in high-altitude performance.  Previous intercepts have been achieved at 130 miles altitude with the SM-3 Block 1-a.

The photo below shows the USS Shiloh firing a SM-3 on June 22, 2006, in the eighth flight test of the Aegis BMD System.  This shot would prove to be the seventh successful intercept in the Aegis BMD flight test program.  (The full-resolution version makes excellent wallpaper.)

Comments

[house-pundit.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful shot!

Given the Iranians' crap, I think the US could do a lot worse than indulging in a little ritual dick-beating.

"Launch at Israel? Yeah? Contemplate having your goddamn tinker-toy missile blown out of the sky and still having Tehran corner the market on trinitite. Think about that real hard, you nutcase bastards."

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

"So, the question you've gotta ask yourself is, 'Do I feel lucky?'
Well, do ya ... punk?"