AEDC-tested Navy Standard Missile destroys errant satellite

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • Arnold Engineering Development Center Public Affairs
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. (AFPN) --  "Way to go, baby."

That is what Sherry Simons said here when Navy officials confirmed Feb. 20 that a Navy Standard Missile-3 fired from the deck of the USS Lake Erie in the Northern Pacific hit a falling and potentially dangerous defense intelligence satellite, some people here were particularly interested.

"Seeing the missile in the news is almost like watching your own child," said Ms. Simons, who is a senior technical specialist in Arnold Engineering Development Center's von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility at Keesler Air Force Base.

She was the project engineer assigned to the last flight simulation testing conducted on the Navy Standard Missile in VKF Tunnel A in 1994 and 1996 through 1997.

"We've been testing this missile for at least 40 years if not more," she said. "Whether it's extending the range of the missile or improving its stability and control capabilities, the Navy Standard Missile comes here to our wind tunnels to collect its massive database." 

The center staff has been testing numerous variants and upgrades of the missile since its original design in the late 1960s, said Wayne Hawkins, an AEDC plans and programs directorate engineer.

"This has been one of the most thoroughly tested missile systems on the ground and in flight that's ever been developed, including numerous variants of this system we've tested here," Mr. Hawkins said.

Ms. Simons said the missile is back at AEDC to fulfill a different role.

"Currently, we are using the Navy Standard Missile to check out and validate the new Tunnel A Pitch/Inject system, which is an upgrade that has been in progress for about two years," she said.

The missile hit the satellite about three minutes after launch as the spacecraft, roughly the size of a school bus, traveled in polar orbit at more than 17,000 mph. Officials say the missile likely destroyed its intended target, a 1,000 pound tank of toxic hydrazine fuel. There was an explosion on impact and more than 80 pieces of debris were detected after initial assessments.

Observers with the Joint Integrated Missile Defense Team in Colorado Springs, Colo., and U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb., will continue to assess the levels of damage.

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