http://news.yam.com/afp/international/200712/20071205026535.html
美國戰機首次試驗成功以飛彈攔截彈道飛彈
法新社╱郭無患 2007-12-05 10:05
(法新社華盛頓四日電)美國國防官員今天指出,一架美軍F-16戰機本週測試新的飛彈防禦概念,首次利用一枚空對空飛彈,擊落一枚正處於加速升空階段的探空火箭。
這個系統的名稱是「中央作戰網路─空中防禦要件」,此概念的新突破在於,它能在戰機或無人飛機上配備高速飛彈,足以攔截加速升空階段進入太空的彈道飛彈。
配備攔截飛彈的戰機必須飛進彈道飛彈發射點一百英里以內,在彈道飛彈發射後兩到三分鐘之內,捕捉正在爬升的飛彈。
美國飛彈防禦署發言人李納表示,這個系統在近距離對中短程彈道飛彈作戰非常有效。
他指出,美國國防部有另外兩項仍在發展中,較為大家熟悉的攔截加速階段彈道飛彈系統─空中雷射以及動能攔截飛彈,但這些系統距離備妥部署還有許多年。
李納說:「雖然它是非常短程的飛彈,必須在彈道飛彈發射的區域內才有效,但它確實讓我們具有攔截初期加速階段彈道飛彈的能力」。
這次測試昨天在新墨西哥州白沙飛彈試驗場進行,一架F-16戰機對一枚獵戶座探空實驗火箭發射兩枚改裝的AIM-9X飛彈。
國防部飛彈防禦署表示,第一枚飛彈擊毀探空火箭,第二枚則紀錄攔截過程;飛彈尋標器傳回火箭的近距離影像,展現了搜尋與追蹤目標的能力。
除配備特別尋標器,AIM-9X響尾蛇飛彈和AIM-120 先進中程空對空飛彈加裝新的第二階段液態推進燃料,使飛彈爆發速度,得以捕捉加速升空階段的彈道飛彈。
發展這個系統的雷神飛彈系統公司指出,這個系統「為發展並獲取飛彈防禦攔截器,提供了革命性且低成本的辦法」。
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071204/pl_afp/usmilitarymissile_071204233530
US jet intercepts ballistic missile for first time: officials
Tue Dec 4, 6:35 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A US F-16 fighter used an air-to-air missile to destroy a sounding rocket in its boost phase for the first time this week in a test of a new missile defense concept, US spokesmen said Tuesday.
The system -- named the Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCDE) -- breaks new ground in that it would arm fighter aircraft or drones with missiles fast enough to intercept a ballistic missile as it lifts into space.
The aircraft would have to get to within a 100 miles of the launch site to catch the ascending missile in the first two to three minutes after launch.
But it could be very useful in a short range combat situation against short and medium range missiles, said Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency.
The Pentagon has two other better known boost phase intercept systems under development -- the Airborne Laser and the Kinetic Energy Interceptor -- but those are still years away from being ready, he said.
"So it does give us an initial boost phase capability even though it is a much shorter range missile, and you have to be in the area of the missile launch to be effective," Lehner said.
The test Monday at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico involved an F-16 fighter that fired two modified AIM-9X missile at an Orion sounding or research rocket.
The first destroyed the rocket and the second recorded the interception, the Pentagon's missile defense agency said.
The missile seekers' relayed images of the rocket at close range, demonstrating the capability to acquire and track the target, the Pentagon's missile defense agency said.
"Although not unexpected, the subsequent intercept destroyed the target," it said.
"A second AIM-9X launched during the test observed through its seeker the intercept of the target by the first and was also on a trajectory to intercept the target," the agency said.
Besides special seekers, AIM-9X and AIM-20 AAMRAM are fitted with a new liquid propellant second stage to give it the burst of speed needed to catch a ballistic missile in its boost phase.
Lehner said the missiles were heavily instrumented during the test, but otherwise conditions were "pretty realistic."
Raytheon Missile Systems, which developed the NCADE, said it "provides a revolutionary, low-cost approach to interceptor development and acquisition."
May the Force be with you