A Raytheon Standard Missile-3 Block IB fired from the USS Lake Erie destroyed a complex, separating short-range ballistic missile target with a sophisticated separating mock warhead. Despite stressing conditions designed to challenge the missile’s discrimination capabilities, the SM-3 successfully engaged the target using the sheer kinetic force of a massive collision in space. “Combatant commanders…

U.S. Air Force photograph by Scott M. Ash Maj. Gen. Richard S. Haddad testifies during a hearing of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, May 15, 2013, on Capitol Hill. Active and Reserve Component leaders testified to the subcommittee about the fiscal 2014 President’s Budget request and…

Lockheed Martin’s second-generation Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system achieved its fourth intercept since May 2012. The system successfully launched and guided a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB missile to engage a sophisticated, separating short-range ballistic missile target. During the Missile Defense Agency test, U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS Lake Erie (CG-70) used the Aegis BMD…

Photograph by Frank Paul, University of Zurich The Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland is the largest valley glacier in the Alps and it has been losing mass since the mid-19th century. A new study using data from two NASA satellites found that glaciers like this one lost an average of 571 trillion pounds of ice per…

NASA’s first mission to sample an asteroid is moving ahead into development and testing in preparation for its launch in 2016. The Origins-Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) passed a confirmation review May 15 called Key Decision Point-C. NASA officials reviewed a series of detailed project assessments and authorized the spacecraft’s continuation into…

Air Force photograph by TSgt. Kenya Shiloh Members of the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard, arrive at Lask Air Base, Poland, for Aviation Detachment Rotation 13-2, May 9, 2013. More than 100 Airmen will be working with the Polish air force for the first F-16 fighter aircraft rotation and second overall this year….

Aerojet, a GenCorp company, announced May 16 that its propulsion systems successfully contributed to the third consecutive intercept test of Raytheon’s Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB. The SM-3 Block IB missile is part of the Missile Defense Agency’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system. During Flight Test Mission-19, the sea-based missile intercepted and destroyed a separating…

Turkey: contact lost with fighter jet Turkey’s military says it has lost contact with a fighter plane in southern Turkey. A military statement said May 13 it lost contact with the F-16 jet over a mountainous area in Osmaniye province, which is close to the border with Syria. The plane had taken off from a…

Recognizing the value of multinational coalitions for operations in the land, maritime and air domains, officials at U.S. Strategic Command here hope to forge a coalition that shares assets and capabilities in space. The U.S. and its allies are discussing details for the first agreement of its kind promoting combined space operations, Brig. Gen. David…

Lockheed Martin photograph Lockheed Martin delivered three C-130J Super Hercules to the Iraqi Air Force, two months ahead of schedule, the third of which departed the Marietta, Ga., Dec 12, 2012. The Iraqi Air Force will use the airlifters for intra-theater support for its troops and to provide humanitarian relief operations in various locations. The…