The Upgraded Aegis BMD Destroyer USS Roosevelt arrives to Rota

The destroyer is named after President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor. It is replacing the USS Carney, which has been based at Rota since 2015, as part of a US Navy plan to gradually rotate the four Rota-based destroyers.

The destroyer arrived in Rota on Saturday 23th, after taking part in an exercise earlier this month that involved U.S. surface ships maneuvering in the Barents Sea for the first time since the Cold War. The drills in the waterway north of Finland and Russia were part of a US Navy effort to bolster its presence in the broader Arctic region, where Russia has invested heavily in recent years and China also has declared itself a power with economic interests.

The Navy’s Rota-based destroyers form part of the U.S.’s European missile defense shield, along with U.S. ground-based systems stationed in Romania and planned for Poland. The Roosevelt brings with it the “most modern combat systems upgrade,” the Aegis Baseline 9 BMD system. Also, it is the first destroyer in Rota able to deploy with two embarked MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters.

Pacific Ocean: Missile intercepted

The U.S. military intercepted a medium-range missile in space over the Pacific Ocean.

The military launched the target from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai late Thursday.

Following target launch, the USS Lake Erie detected and tracked the missile with its onboard AN/SPY-1 radar. The ship, equipped with the second-generation Aegis BMD weapon system, developed a fire control solution and launched the latest, most advanced interceptor under development to destroy it: Raytheon SM-3 Block 1B.

The SM-3 maneuvered to a point in space and released its kinetic warhead. The kinetic warhead acquired the target reentry vehicle, diverted into its path, and, using only the force of a direct impact, engaged and destroyed the target at the highest altitude of any test to date. This test exercised the latest version of the second-generation Aegis BMD Weapon System, capable of engaging longer range and more sophisticated ballistic missiles.

Today’s event, designated Flight Test - Standard Missile-22 (FTM-22), was the fifth consecutive successful intercept test of the SM-3 Block IB guided missile with the Aegis BMD 4.0 Weapon System. Findings of operational tests, FTM-21 and 22 will support follow-on production decisions for the SM-3 Block IB guided missile. FTM-22 is the 28th successful intercept in 34 flight test attempts for the Aegis BMD program since flight testing began in 2002.

"This threat scenario against a medium-range target represented the potential threats that we’re facing in today’s defense environment – and this latest Aegis BMD mission success, run by the Sailors of the USS Lake Erie, demonstrated the readiness of our missile defense capabilities to take on those threats,” said Nick Bucci, director of BMD development programs at Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Training business. “As the targets and threat scenarios become more advanced, our Aegis BMD system is keeping pace with innovative solutions to safeguard our global security.”

The Aegis BMD 4.0.X configuration enables the Navy to quickly defeat sophisticated ballistic missile threats by integrating sensors from space, land and sea for persistent and reliable detection. The central component of the Lockheed Martin-developed Aegis BMD Combat System is the SPY-1 radar, the most widely fielded naval phased array radar in the world. The Aegis system and SPY-1 radar provide the U.S. and allied nations with advanced surveillance, anti-air warfare and missile defense capabilities.

The Missile Defense Agency and Navy are jointly developing Aegis BMD as part of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System. Currently, 27 Aegis BMD-equipped warships have the certified capability to engage ballistic missiles and perform long-range surveillance and tracking missions, as well as an additional four ships in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The U.S. Navy plans to procure seven new Aegis BMD-equipped destroyers, and has also planned to develop two Aegis Ashore systems to perform ballistic missile defense.