Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has pushed through unprecedented close cooperation between Japan and the United States to develop his country's ballistic missile defense forces. However, the coming test will be the first time that a Japanese Aegis destroyer will have participated in such a test, the MSDF said.

During the exercise, the 7,250-ton destroyer Kirishima will track a mock ballistic missile using its radar, while a U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer tries to intercept the incoming missile with a conventional Standard Missile-3 interceptor, the MSDF said.

The joint test is aimed to enhance information sharing between Japan and the United States under an ongoing joint missile defense project, the report said.

The test will take place three months after the United States and Japan successfully carried out their first test for the upgraded version of the Standard Missile-3 interceptor tipped with a Japanese-designed nose cone in March.

Harris Corp lands cruise missile data link contract

The Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida announced Tuesday that it had been selected by Lockheed Martin for a 2-year, $10 million development contract to provide the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range, or JASSM ER weapon data link, or WDL, transceiver. The WDL will enable the JASSM ER to engage re-locatable and time-critical targets. JASSM is the world's first stealthy conventional cruise missile.

"We are pleased that Lockheed Martin has selected Harris to supply the data link transceiver for JASSM ER," said Dan Pearson, group president of Defense Programs for the Harris Government Communications Systems Division. "Harris has a legacy of successfully developing weapon data links, and the JASSM WDL will incorporate the very latest in Software Defined Radio and encryption technology from our government communications and RF businesses."

Harris will design, fabricate, test and deliver a state-of-the-art, miniaturized, two-way data link transceiver module for JASSM beyond-line-of- sight communications. The WDL incorporates the company's latest SDR technology -- which is compliant with the Software Communications Architecture or SCA. And it incorporates the Harris Sierra II Type-1, NSA-certified COMSEC module in order to satisfy current and future data link waveform and encryption requirements, the Harris statement said.

The Harris statement said that the addition of the weapon data link to the JASSM ER significantly enhanced the battlespace commander's situational awareness through real-time weapon-in-flight tracking. In addition, a weapon data link-equipped JASSM ER can be re-tasked in-flight, allowing adjustment for "pop-up" targets.

The WDL transceiver award follows Harris' recent participation in the WDL Network Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration, or ACTD, for the U.S. military. Recently developed Network Enabled Weapons Interface Configuration Document, or ICD, messages defined by the ACTD will be incorporated into the WDL for the JASSM ER program. Harris was a key contributor to the combined government and industry team that developed the message set as part of the military's recent WDLN ICD ACTD contract.

Harris Corporation is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of over $3 billion and more than 13,000 employees, including 5,500 engineers and scientists. The company's four operating divisions serve markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and microwave communications.

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