The US Army and Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have successfully tested the Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon systems after experiencing a failure during the first test in February this year.
The test, designated Flight Test Patriot Weapon System (FTP)-27, took place October 1 from the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
In the second test, the THAAD Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2 (AN/TPY-2) detected and tracked the Black Dagger target and successfully provided data to the Patriot weapon system to determine a launch solution.
According to MDA, the Patriot weapon system successfully achieved an intercept of the target with a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor using data provided by the THAAD AN/TPY-2 radar.
During the first event on February 20, 2020, the THAAD Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2 (AN/TPY-2) also detected and tracked the Black Dagger target and successfully provided data to the Patriot weapon system to determine a launch solution. On that occasion, an intercept was not achieved due to an interceptor software upgrade error which has since been corrected.
“The success of FTP-27 validates the interoperability of the Patriot and THAAD weapon systems,” said MDA Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill. “This capability is vital to the Ballistic Missile Defense System to defend against rogue threats to our homeland, deployed forces and allies.”
In addition, FTP-27 meets the requirements of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act for the MDA and US Army to annually test the interoperability and integration of the Patriot and THAAD weapon systems.
