Lockheed Martin provided the test missile for the MDA's successful Cobra Dane radar tracking exercise this week.

The Lockheed Martin industry team launched the target missile from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft over the Pacific Ocean hundreds of kilometers from the Cobra Dane radar at Eareckson Air Station in Shemya, Alaska.

The radar successfully tracked the test missile, demonstrating the preparedness of this element of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. The AN/FPS-108 Cobra Dane radar is a ground-based sensor for tracking incoming threat missiles.

"We are pleased to have delivered 100 percent mission success on our first mission working in partnership with the Missile Defense Agency as the Targets and Countermeasures prime contractor," said Linda Reiners, vice president, Missile Defense Systems, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

For the exercise, Lockheed Martin subcontractor L-3 Coleman Aerospace of Orlando, Fla., constructed a launch vehicle that simulated a realistic missile threat.

"This mission demonstrated the rigorous systems engineering approach that the Missile Defense Agency and the Lockheed Martin team are using to support realistic and rigorous testing of the Ballistic Missile Defense System," said Jim Tevepaugh, program director, Targets and Countermeasures, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

The Targets and Countermeasures program provides realistic test environments for the Ballistic Missile Defense System being developed by the MDA to defend against all classes of ballistic missiles. The MDA awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company the Targets and Countermeasures prime contract in 2003.

Lockheed Martin's team includes six major subcontractors. The team's expertise spans systems engineering, design, manufacture and air-, land- and sea-launch capabilities. The Flexible Targets Family approach to be implemented in 2007 will further reduce cost and cycle time through the use of common subsystems and components for reentry vehicles, instrumentation, countermeasures, boosters and ground support.

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