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In This Issue:

Space Defender
Commander, Air Force Space Command Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

Global Space Protector
Commander, United States Strategic Command Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

Protecting America’s Space Interests
The contribution of space is critical to the United State’s strategic missile defense and intelligence community as well as homeland security, diplomacy and the economy. Emerging threats could challenge the nation’s space advantage.

A B-52 Standoff?
The cancellation of the Air Force’s B-52 standoff jammer leaves the Navy shouldering that electronic warfare mission. The Air Force says it is studying the alternatives, but opinions differ whether it will get back into the game.

A-10 Makeover On The Horizon
The A-10 Thunderbolt II, aka the Warthog, has long been admired for its effectiveness in achieving its mission of close air support of ground forces. A comprehensive upgrade package for the aircraft is expected to move it from the analog to digital age.

Blocking The Ballistic Threat
The Missile Defense Agency has developed a multifaceted strategy to accomplish its mission. Spiral development in two-year blocks allows the agency to refine program objectives as technology becomes available.

WMD Center Sparks Collaboration
The Center for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction at U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) has reached full operational capability. The USSTRATCOM WMD Center integrates and synchronizes efforts to combat global WMD proliferation.

Hypersonic Strike
The BGM-109 Tomahawk missile has served the Navy well, providing combat ships with the ability to strike targets on land or at seas from long ranges. The Navy is now seeking a missile with speeds up to 6 Mach to take out time-sensitive targets.

Military Aerospace Technology Online Archives

This article was Originally Published on Aug 25, 2005 in Volume: 4 Issue: 2

Floating Radar

Recently dedicated sea-based assigned key role in missile defense.

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the Boeing-led Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) industry team have officially dedicated the SBX radar, a key component of Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program.

SBX consists of a highly advanced X-band radar system mounted on a sea-going platform. It will be able to track, discriminate and assess a variety of ballistic missile threats. SBX passes data to elements of the ballistic missile defense system to facilitate the interception of missiles by ground and/or sea-based interceptors. The radar will continue to relay updated targeting information after an interceptor launches its kill vehicle toward the incoming target. Initially, the radar will be used to support both operations and testing of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, which is specifically designed to provide a defense against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack.

SBX's floating platform, a modified oil-drilling vessel, measures 240 feet wide and 390 feet long. It includes a power plant, bridge and control rooms, living quarters, storage areas and the infrastructure necessary to support the massive X-band radar. The X-band radar, sitting on top of the vessel, is the largest, most sophisticated phased array, electro-mechanically steered X-band radar in the world, consisting of thousands of antennae driven by transmit/receive modules.

Over the next several months, the SBX will undergo a wide range of sea trials and exercises before cruising to its homeport of Adak, AK, in the Aleutian Islands. It will be capable of moving throughout the Pacific Ocean to support missile defense advanced testing and defensive operations.

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