Aegis Ashore Testing Progresses

Posted on | by Caroline Teames
05/22/2014

05/22/2014: This video highlights the initial Aegis ashore test.


Credit Video: Missile Defense Agency:5/21/14

The Missile Defense Agency, the U.S. Navy, and sailors at the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense Test Complex and Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF), successfully conducted the first flight test involving components of the Aegis Ashore system.

According to a Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance Press Release dated 5/21/14:

Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii – May 20, 2014 — At 7:30 PM (HST), a missile defense interceptor SM-3 Block 1B was successfully launched from a land based Aegis Ashore Site in Barking Sands, Kauai marking history. This Aegis Ashore system is one year away from its full operational deployment in Romania to defend Europe against ballistic missiles.

The Aegis Ashore system was developed at a cost of $800 million and is manned by around 100 personnel. 

The test proved out three necessary important competencies toward deployment to Romania: 

  1.  The validation of communication from the Aegis Ashore site with constant persistency to the second and third stage of the launched SM-3 Block IB interceptor in its guidance for the best path towards the target. 
  2.  The validation of the accuracy of a “launch on remote” above ground interceptor site that is much further away from the Aegis Ashore site than it would be if the interceptors were on a Aegis BMD ship. 
  3.  The validation of the increased safety measures for the surrounding area and Pacific Missile Range Facility for the requirements of this interceptor and system to launch from an Aegis Ashore land  based site. 

The Aegis BMD system has had 28 successful test intercepts over the past 11 years, making it more reliable and capable than any other regional missile defense system deployed today. Placing the system on ground at a fixed site rather on water enhances 24/7 persistence, accuracy and communication, further increasing the interceptors’ capability to carry out their mission.

Moreover, being dedicated to the singular mission of missile defense permits the full use of its processing power and crew, as opposed to sharing the processor and crew tasks for multiple missions that a ship would be required to do.  

Finally, having “launch on remote” above ground interceptors exponentially increases quantitative and qualitative capability that would be limited on current Aegis Ballistic Missile Ship platforms performing this same mission.  

This system holds great promise for the future Integrated air and missile systems and the use of interceptors of all types and ranges both in space and in air with above ground land-based,  “launch on remote” format that could be placed in other regions around the world such as Japan and in the U.S. National Capital Region to deter a regional threat from air and space breathing ballistic or non ballistic missiles and platforms such as cruise missiles and UAVs.

As it deploys to Romania next year and to Poland in 2018, Aegis Ashore is a tremendous and critical asset for NATO to pursue its collective resolve to protect and defend Europe. 

 http://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/news.aspx?news_id=5214

 

 

 

 

The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen

Posted on | by Caroline Teames

05/21/2014:The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25), a 534-feet-long Missile Range Instrumentation Ship, operated by the Military Sealift Command, departs Oregon via the Columbia River.

Credit Video: Oregon National Guard Public Affairs Office:5/16/14

The Oregon Military Department released photos Monday of a 534-foot U.S. Navy ship that sailed down the Columbia River out to the Pacific Ocean on its way to monitor missile launches and weapons tests conducted around the world.

The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen is one of three missile-range instrumentation ships operated by the Navy’s Military Sealift Command and works in the Pacific. It does missions sponsored by the U.S. Air Force.

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/05/ship_that_tracks_all_missile_l.html

The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen (T-AGM-25) is the latest vessel of the Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) three-missile-range instrumentation ships. The new ship is expected to achieve initial operational capability in 2014. The other two missile range instrumentation ships are the USNS Invincible and the USNS Observation Island…..

The T-AGM-25 is a commercially designed and built ship. It has a length of 534ft, beam of 89ft and draft of 22ft. The displacement of the ship is 12,229t. The vessel will have 88 staff, including sailors, civil service mariners and mission technicians from government agencies.

The ship will be used for tracking and monitoring all missile launches and weapon tests carried out around the world. It will also be used in data collection of the tested weapons and launched missiles, providing useful information to the designers of arms in the US.

It will be one of the 24 ships operated by MSC under its Special Mission Program. Under this program, ships are manned and operated on a contract basis by civilian mariners under the jurisdiction of MSC. 

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/usns-howard-o-lorenzen-t-agm-25-missile-range-instrumentation-ship/

 

 

 

French Forces in Combined Resolve Exercise

Posted on | by Caroline Teames

05/21/2014: French Engineers from the 31st Engineer Regiment construct a wire obstacle while coming under attack from OPFOR during Combined Resolve II.

Credit:131st Mobile Public Affairs Detachment:5/19/14

The U.S. Army’s European Rotational Force is participating as well in a major exercise alongside NATO allies and partner-nation forces at the Army’s Grafenwoehr and Hohenfels Training Areas in southeastern Germany, May 1-June 30, 2014.



Exercise Combined Resolve II will include more than 4,000 participants from 13 nations, including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and the U.S.

Combined Resolve II will be the largest scheduled multi-national exercise in Europe in 2014, said Brig. Gen. Walter Piatt, commanding general of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr.



 “Of the 4,000 Soldiers, over 50 percent are multinational,” said Piatt. “We’ve done larger exercises in the past, but this is the first time all the forces will be together in one place under a single brigade task organization.” 



The U.S. rotational force will consist of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, a unit of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, the brigade combat team designated as the Army’s regionally-aligned force for the U.S. European Command. 

Combined Resolve II will also mark the first use of the Army’s European Activity Set, a group of combat equipment and vehicles pre-positioned at the Grafenwoehr Training Area to outfit and support rotational forces when they arrive in Europe. The set includes the most updated versions of the Army’s M1A2 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles.



The first phase of Combined Resolve II will include force-on-force maneuver training at the Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels.

The 2-5 CAV will then move to Grafenwoehr for gunnery training, culminating in a unique multi-national, live-fire exercise that will blend virtual, simulated and maneuver forces to replicate a complex operating environment.

 

 

 

Marines in Baliktan Exercise, 2014

Posted on | by Caroline Teames
05/20/2014

05/20/2014: A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey, with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 262 stationed at Okinawa, lands during Balikatan 2014 in Crow Valley, Philippines May 15, 2014.

 Balikatan is an annual bilateral exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. armed forces designed to strengthen interoperability and country-to-country relations.


 Credit:U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific:5/15/14

Icelandic Operations

Posted on | by Caroline Teames
05/19/2014

05/19/2014: U.S. Airmen began Icelandic Air Policing operations at Keflavik International Airport, Iceland, May 16, which will continue until June 5.

Credit: Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa:5/15/14

“We are excited to be back in Iceland again for Icelandic Air Policing,” said Lt. Col. Lendy Renegar, 48th Air Expeditionary Group commander.

 “While our primary mission is to ensure the safety and integrity of Icelandic airspace, we are very excited to train with one of the best rescue organizations in the world,” he said.  “The Icelandic Coast guard is incredibly capable and professional, and we are truly prepared to work with them both in training and real-world rescue opportunities.”

 “The Icelandic Coast guard is incredibly capable and professional, and we are truly prepared to work with them both in training and real-world rescue opportunities.”

 About 200 U.S. Airmen, F-15C Eagles from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, a KC-135 Stratotanker from RAF Mildenhall, and a C-130J Super Hercules from Ramstein Air Base will execute the mission. The U.S. Air Force began providing protection of Iceland’s airspace in 1951, when a treaty was signed establishing permanent basing there.

Though the U.S. has since withdrawn its permanent presence, NATO continues to provide air policing to meet Iceland’s peacetime readiness needs. The forward presence of Airmen in Europe puts U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa in a unique position to execute the United States’ agreement with NATO to conduct one U.S.-sponsored operation and participate in one NATO operation in Iceland each year. In addition to the air policing mission, the Airmen will train on rescue capabilities while in Iceland.

 “We are confident our Guardian Angels bring great capabilities too and these two organizations working together should be fun to watch,” said Renegar. “We have C-130s, KC-135s, F-15s, Guardian Angels, a team of air battle managers and about 20 hours of daylight – we are excited to see what we can accomplish together on this mission.” 

With the Arctic opening, it is clear that the Icelandic mission will grow in importance in the period ahead.

 

 

 

USMC and Filipinos Train on Osprey

Posted on | by Caroline Teames

05/19/2014: Philippine Marines with Marine Special Operations Group, stationed at Fort Bonifacio, Naval Station and U.S. Airmen with 31st Rescue Squadron, 18th Operations Group stationed at Kadena Air Force Base conduct military free fall, high altitude, low opening parachute jumps at Basa Air Base, Floridablanca, Republic of the Philippines, during Balikatan, May 13.

Balikatan is an annual bilateral training evolution that helps maintain a high level of interoperability and enhances military-to-military relations and combined combat capabilities.


 Credit: Marine Forces Pacific Combat Camera:5/13/14

 

3rd MAW Marines Fight San Diego County Wildfires

Posted on | by Caroline Teames

05/19/2014: U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 364, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing from Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton, assist California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and local firefighting agencies containing the Fires in Camp Pendleton, Calif. May 16, 2014.


 Credit:Marine Corps Air Station Miramar / 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing: 5/16/14