US Navy destroyer USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) marked a historic moment by simultaneously engaging multiple missile targets during a recent Aegis Weapon System test.
The USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) completed the Flight Test Aegis Weapon System-48 (FTM-48), also known as Vigilant Wyvern, off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii.
This milestone was made possible by leveraging advancements in the Aegis Combat System, enabling the simultaneous engagement of multiple Anti-ship Cruise Missile and Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) targets, a feat previously unattained by the Aegis Combat System.
FTM-48’s test resulted from a collaboration between the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the US Navy Program Executive Office Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS).
“This is another step forward in proving capabilities in an operationally realistic scenario, which is crucial in outpacing evolving threats and staying ahead of the adversary,” said Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin.
“Using this Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) foundation, the Aegis Combat System will continue to expand its capabilities to address today’s and tomorrow’s most challenging ballistic and hypersonic threats and raids,” he added.
Per a statement by Lockheed Martin, as the Aegis Combat System Engineering Agent, their engineers developed the latest common source library update for the Aegis Combat System computer program, the 9.C2 baseline. With the inclusion of BMD 5.1 capability, which is currently deployed in most of the Aegis BMD fleet, FTM-48 demonstrated the Aegis system’s ability to counter an increasing number of challenging threats.
By utilizing SPY-1’s IAMD Priority Mode, FTM-48 showcased the Aegis Combat System’s capacity to efficiently allocate radar resources to support multi-mission operations. This event validated that ships equipped with the Aegis Combat System can defend against multiple IAMD threats simultaneousl.
According to the company, the Aegis Combat System is continuously advancing, integrating SPY-1 and solid-state radars. New baselines are in development to counter evolving threats and stay ahead of challenges.
