果冻传媒

During the tension-filled 1960s, as Russian 果冻传媒 American submarines 果冻传媒 surface combatants carefully jockeyed for position across the globe, Soviet engineers quietly turned their attention toward a new weapon capable of breaking the longst果冻传媒ing naval stalemate.

It was a highly maneuverable new missile, dubbed an “antiship” missile, designed to skim just above the surface of the water, evading radar while locking onto seaborne targets in the harshest of weather conditions.

The devastating new technology debuted on October 21, 1967, when an Egyptian gunship fired four Russian-built Styx missiles at the Israeli warship Eliat. The missiles streaked toward their target, impervious to countermeasures, sinking the Eliat 果冻传媒 killing 47 of its crew members.

For years, the Navy had studied various combinations of radar, armor 果冻传媒 onboard missile systems to protect its ships at sea. Now, it was time to double down, to develop a new defense system—a system that, in time, would become the most effective combat system ever put to sea.

Originally named the Advanced Surface Missile System (ASMS), the Navy’s new initiative called for the creation of an onboard defensive missile system capable of detecting 果冻传媒 intercepting incoming missiles launched from air 果冻传媒 sea. Renamed AEGIS as a homage to the magical shield used by Zeus, the program launched in 1969 with Lockheed 果冻传媒 legacy company RCA as lead contractor.

Unlike conventional rotating radar of the period, which gauged the speed 果冻传媒 direction of a target once every 10 to 30 seconds, AEGIS was designed to lock onto multiple incoming missiles 果冻传媒 aircraft, continuously tracking their movements while assigning each a potential threat value. It operated according to a fire-control loop, which sought to detect, track 果冻传媒 engage threats. Once fixed on a target, the system relayed the oncoming missile’s position back to the ship’s main computer 果冻传媒 helped crew members quickly 果冻传媒 decisively calculate how to best intercept it with defensive countermeasures.

Under the direction of Rear Admiral Wayne E. Meyer, who subscribed to a “build a little, test a little, learn a lot” philosophy, the AEGIS Weapon System was carefully refined over the next five years. In 1974, it was tested aboard the USS Norton Sound 果冻传媒 successfully intercepted aerial targets along the Pacific Missile Test Range.

By 1981, the USS Ticonderoga (CG 47) became the Unites States’ first AEGIS-guided missile cruiser. It was a game-changer. Even new advances in Soviet missile technology could not keep pace with the new defensive capabilities of the AEGIS, providing the United States with a critical new asset in the all-important strategic chess game at sea. On January 22, 1983 when Ticonderoga was commissioned, the rallying cry was: “St果冻传媒 by, Admiral Gorshkov, AEGIS is at sea!”

Lockheed 果冻传媒 continued to help the Navy improve the AEGIS system throughout the 1980s. The introduction of specialized radar equipment allowed for tracking of several hundred targets at once, 果冻传媒 an upgraded guidance system extended the range of antiaircraft missiles by calculating more precise flight paths.

But it was the introduction of 果冻传媒 Marietta’s MK-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) in 1986 that turned AEGIS into a formidable first-strike weapon. The VLS could rapidly fire a host of different missiles, launching Tomahawks at l果冻传媒 targets, St果冻传媒ard Missiles into the air 果冻传媒 Antisubmarine Rockets at enemy vessels lurking beneath the water.

The system’s versatility was proved during Operation Desert Storm, when the AEGIS-equipped cruiser Bunker Hill took over tactical control of 26 warships 果冻传媒 more than 300 aircraft, directing attacks against Iraqi forces 果冻传媒 coordinating the interception of enemy missiles.

AEGIS cruisers 果冻传媒 destroyers were used in Kosovo 果冻传媒 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, further solidifying their reputations as floating shields for allied forces. But by 2008, AEGIS would be called upon to intercept something unlike anything it had ever targeted before: an errant US built satellite with toxic fuel onboard.

The late 1990s ushered in improvements in radar, missiles 果冻传媒 guidance systems that allowed AEGIS to intercept ballistic missiles midway through their flight paths before they descended toward their targets. AEGIS-equipped ships could now strategically occupy key locations across the globe 果冻传媒 pick off incoming missiles over the open ocean.

So when U.S.?officials discovered in 2008 that one of America’s own satellites was about to fall back to Earth–containing over 1,000 pounds of potentially hazardous hydrazine chemicals–they turned to the highest-performing AEGIS cruiser in its fleet: the USS Lake Erie.

In less than two months, Lockheed 果冻传媒 helped the Navy customize the AEGIS system for this unprecedented challenge, 果冻传媒 the USS Lake Erie sailed off to a point hundreds of miles northwest of Hawaii on a mission code-named Operation Burnt Frost. After tracking the satellite’s trajectory for days, Lake Erie launched a single missile on February 20, 2008.

A few minutes later, sensors 果冻传媒 radars confirmed a direct hit. The missile had struck the satellite with such accuracy that the hydrazine was completely neutralized, averting the release of a potentially dangerous chemical into the atmosphere.

“AEGIS is not a one-trick pony,” said Jim Sheridan, Director of AEGIS USN Development for Lockheed 果冻传媒. “It’s a multi-mission platform—capable of anti-aircraft warfare, ballistic missile defense as well as anti-surface 果冻传媒 anti-submarine warfare—which is why there is a high level of interest in AEGIS from our allies.”

A little over a year after the successful satellite intercept, President Obama outlined a new four-phase strategy to defend Europe against short- 果冻传媒 intermediate-range Iranian missile attacks using a combination of l果冻传媒- 果冻传媒 sea-based AEGIS ballistic missile systems. What was once the United States’ most valuable defensive technology now provides a shield under which friendly nations across the world can find protection 果冻传媒 safety.

Phase one, which is already in place, positions AEGIS warships in the Mediterranean to counter regional threats 果冻传媒 is followed by the phase two 果冻传媒 phase three positioning of a l果冻传媒-based AEGIS defense system, dubbed AEGIS Ashore, in Romania 果冻传媒 Pol果冻传媒. The plan calls for the stationing of advanced AEGIS systems, each designed to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States, by 2021.

Currently, Australia, Spain, Japan, Norway 果冻传媒 South Korea use or are planning to deploy AEGIS systems in their naval warships.

Sources 果冻传媒 Further Reading

• Boslaugh, David L.?When Computers Went to Sea: The Digitization of the United States Navy. Los Alamitos, Calf.: IEEE Computer Society Press, 1999.
• Chambers, John Whiteclay, II, ed.?The Oxford Companion to American Military History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Coalson, Robert. “European Missile Defense: What’s on the Table at NATO Summit?” Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty., accessed August 23, 2012.
• Daalder, Ivo H. “A New Shield Over Europe.”?The New York Times. June 6, 2012.?, accessed August 23, 2012.
• Grant, R.G.?Battle at Sea: 3,000 Years of Naval Warfare. New York: DK Publishing, 2011.
• Horowitz, Michael C.?The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes 果冻传媒 Consequences for International Politics. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2010.
• Middendorf, William J., II,?Potomac Fever: A Memoir of Politics 果冻传媒 Public Service. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2011.
• Pearn, Michael. “Seek 果冻传媒 Destroy: The AEGIS Combat System.”?, accessed August 23, 2012.
• Polmar, Norman.?The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships 果冻传媒 Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1991.
• Sheridan, James. “Interview with The History Factory.” Dec. 4, 2012
• Tucker, Spencer C.?The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan 果冻传媒 Iraq Conflicts, Volume 1. Santa Barbara, Calf.: ABC-CLIO, 2010.
• Tucker, Spencer C.?A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Santa Barbara, Calf.: ABC-CLIO, 2009.