BAE Systems' Infrared Seeker Successfully Guides THAAD Interceptor to Target.KAUAI, Hawaii -- A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense, is a United States Army project to develop a system to shoot down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles over a theater or region by ramming them with interceptor missiles. (THAAD THAAD Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (formerly Theater High Altitude Area Defense) THAAD Theater High Altitude Area Defense (now Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) ) interceptor - successfully guided by a BAE Systems' infrared seeker - directly hit and destroyed an incoming target during an Oct. 26 test here at the Pacific Missile Range Facility Located in the State of Hawaii on the western shores of Kauai, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) at Barking Sands (IATA: BKH, ICAO: PHBK) is the world's largest instrumented, multi-dimensional testing and training missile range. . The test was conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Missile defence is an air defence system, weapon program, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception and destruction of attacking missiles. Originally conceived as a defence against nuclear-armed ICBMs, its application has broadened to include shorter-ranged Agency and Lockheed Martin, the THAAD weapon system's prime contractor and systems integrator. "In this test, THAAD missile intercepted its target at a higher altitude than any other test to date," said John Watkins, BAE Systems' THAAD program manager in Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA. As of the 2000 census, Nashua had a total population of 86,605[1], making it the second largest city in the state after Manchester. As of 2005, the population is estimated to be 87,986. . "This test, combined with three previous intercepts, shows that THAAD can successfully take out an enemy ballistic missile." THAAD is designed to defend U.S. and allied soldiers, military assets, and population centers from the threat of ballistic missile attacks. The sophisticated system destroys enemy warheads through direct "hit-to-kill" technology. "It's like hitting a bullet with a bullet," Watkins said. The BAE Systems seeker provides infrared imagery of the targeted warhead to guide the interceptor to its target. This success is part of THAAD intercept testing that will continue through 2009. Upcoming tests at the Pacific Missile Range in Hawaii will be conducted against increasingly complex targets outside the earth's atmosphere. BAE Systems began work on seekers for missile defense in the late 1970s. Initial work on the THAAD seeker began in 1991. The seeker development program started in 2000 and is scheduled to conclude in December 2007. A manufacturing contract awarded in December 2006 will lead to the delivery of the first unit equipped in fiscal year 2009. About BAE Systems BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions, and customer support services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services . BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma As a matter of form or for the sake of form. Used to describe accounting, financial, and other statements or conclusions based upon assumed or anticipated facts. The phrase pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings, Inc. for the whole of 2006. |
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