유도탄 이지스 시스템과 통합된 PAC-3 MSE로 순항미사일 표적 격추 성공

[위종민]

록히드가 5월 20일, 이지스 시스템과 통합된 PAC-3 MSE를 이용해 순항미사일 모방 표적을 격추하는 데 성공했다고 발표했네요. 해상은 아니고 육상 시험으로 Mk.70 컨테이너형 VLS에서 발사됐습니다. 

MDA의 지원으로 PAC-3 MSE를 육상발사형 이지스 어쇼어에 통합됐고, 록히드가 회사 자체 자금으로 수상함 발사 능력을 통합했다고 하네요. 아직까진 국방성에서 자금을 지원받진 못했는데 올해 안에 함정발사 시험을 실시하길 원한다고 합니다. 

https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2024/05/20/pac-3-mse-launched-from-virtual-aegis-ship-hits-cruise-missile-target/

PAC-3 MSE launched from virtual Aegis ship hits cruise missile target

PAC-3 MSE launched from virtual Aegis ship hits cruise missile target

By Jen Judson

 Tuesday, May 21, 2024

In a U.S. Army-led test at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile broke its own distance record to take out an air-breathing target simulating a cruise missile or fixed-wing aircraft in a previous test. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile launched from a virtual Aegis Weapon System hit a live target in a recent Lockheed Martin test executed in partnership with multiple U.S. military services.

The PAC-3 MSE was fired from an MK-70 containerized launch platform using Lockheed’s Virtualized Aegis Weapon System to intercept the target simulating a cruise missile, the company said in a statement May 20.

The test is the culmination of Lockheed’s effort, begun in 2017, to pursue an upgraded missile capability for the U.S. Navy that would allow it to avoid a typically lengthy and costly missile development schedule.

“The U.S. Navy has capability and capacity gaps against advanced threats at sea,” Tom Copeman, vice president of naval systems within Lockheed’s missiles and fire control business, told Defense News in an interview earlier this year. The Patriot missile is “a combat-proven weapon against advanced threats, against hypersonic [weapons],” he said.

The capability is “definitely complementary to what [the Navy has] today,” Shireen Melvin, director of integrated combat management within the company’s rotary and mission systems business, said in the same interview.

By the end of the year, Lockheed will have spent roughly $100 million on the PAC-3 MSE integration effort so far, Copeman noted.

The PAC-3 MSE, as the upgraded missile is known, already has a hot production line in Camden, Arkansas, that is currently ramping up to produce 550 missiles a year. The missile is typically fired from the U.S. Army’s Patriot air-and-missile defense system. Lockheed has plans to increase its production numbers as it replenishes the stockpile of missiles sent to Ukraine since Russia invaded over two years ago.

The Missile Defense Agency provided Lockheed with a small amount of funding early on to integrate PAC-3 MSE into its Aegis Ashore baseline capability. Aegis Ashore provides missile defense capability from a deckhouse on land. There is one operational Aegis Ashore in Romania and another in Poland that is expected to reach full operational capability soon.

That effort did not include a live-fire test, but rather a hardware-in-the-loop test in the fall of 2022 using Army launchers instead of Navy platforms at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

Lockheed then invested internally to integrate PAC-3 MSE to be fired from Aegis ships.

In summer 2023, Lockheed proved it could integrate PAC-3 MSE missiles with the Aegis SPY-1 radar, an integrated air-and-missile defense sensor, aboard Aegis capable ships. There are nearly 100 SPY-1 radars aboard Aegis cruisers and destroyers.

The live-fire test now, “showcases Lockheed Martin’s commitment to developing mission-focused, integrated technology to keep those who serve ahead of evolving threats,” Copeman, said in the statement. “These systems could deliver a proven, Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capability with growing capacity to the U.S. to help defend against advanced, maneuverable threats.”

The hope is the Navy or Defense Department will now choose to conduct further tests that could lead to an initial operational capability on a ship, Copeman said earlier this year.

“As of yet, that has not been funded by the DOD,” he said.

About Jen Judson

Jen Judson is an award-winning journalist covering land warfare for Defense News. She has also worked for Politico and Inside Defense. She holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College.

[백선호]

오 일단 자기 돈으로 먼저 하다니... @.@

[위종민]

구글 검색 결과로는 PAC-3 MSE와 SM-6 모두 발당 4배만 달러 내외로 가격이 비슷한데 뭔가의 이유로 수상함에서도 PAC-3를 쓸 거라고 보나 보네요.

[withoutlove]

자기 머리위로 떨어지는 탄도탄 요격만 보자면 SM-6보다는 MSE가 더 효과적이라고 판단할수도 있겠죠.