SSC Pacific is making its mark as

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1 5.3 FEATURE FROM THE SPAWAR SYSTEMS CENTER PACIFIC INTERNAL NEWSLETTER SSC Pacific C4I scoring direct hit for shore-based ballistic missile defense SSC Pacific is making its mark as a valued partner in supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in its mission to field an initial capability to protect the U.S and its allies against limited ballistic missile attacks. The Center is working with MDA to make the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) more integrated, robust, and global. SSC Pacific s BMDS Test and Evaluation (T&E) team supports MDA Aegis BMD and ground-based mid-course defense, including Aegis BMD long-range surveillance and tracking (LRS&T) and Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) engagement capability. The team focuses on tactical data link (TDL) systems interoperability for BMD missions, a specialty that the Tactical Systems Integration & Interoperability Division (Code 535) has demonstrated since As part of its Combined Test Bed (CTB), the BMDS Test Bed, San Diego (BTS) provides Aegis BMD with a full-spectrum radio frequency (RF) capability, Aegis ship and C4I hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) capability, and serves as the primary TDL interoperability site for BMD missions. Did You Know? SSC Pacific has supported the coordinated execution of more than 100 missions over the last decade and has made major contributions in BMD system-level architectures, mission execution, and analysis for MDA and the BMD warfighter. The Navy and Aegis Ashore SSC Pacific is expanding its BMD and C4I expertise to support a Navy-led, MDA-funded program that will implement the proven afloat Aegis BMD capability (DDG 113 baseline) at shore-based sites. The Aegis Ashore Assured Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (A3C4I) team at SSC Pacific will ensure BMD C4I equipment is functioning properly before delivery to the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense site, with the first being the Test Complex at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii. Aegis Ashore is a future land-based variant of the ship-based Aegis BMD. It will track and intercept ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase of flight using SM-3 interceptor variants as they become available. When initial discussions started about a shore-based BMD capability, a Navy platform received little consideration. Most experts thought Air Force ground-based interceptors or a short-range Army system would be the logical choice for shore-based BMD. MDA/Aegis BMD and the Navy proved that the Aegis capability provided a unique and flexible system that is deployable anywhere. Using the Aegis ship system as the basis of Aegis Ashore, the agency is leveraging off of an established, proven systems engineering process and pedigree. MDA/Aegis BMD and the Center are showing that they can take the weapons system and C4I capability from the maritime domain and seamlessly deploy in a shore-based environment, which is an incredible accomplishment. 1

2 Competency We have these powerful shore-based units linked with our sea-based units to form a very comprehensive net that can provide ballistic missile defense for the nation and our allies, says Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Hallock, A3C4I project manager. Key components of Aegis Ashore include the Aegis SPY-1 radar, the command and control system (SSC Pacific s role), the vertical launching system (VLS), and removable enclosures for the systems to facilitate worldwide deployment. The Department of Defense (DoD) plans to deploy the first Aegis Ashore with SM-3 in 2015 as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA), which the National Command Authority approved on Sept. 17, From Brain to Sword We ensure that the brain of the system is getting the information that it needs, says Hallock. The combat system is the brain. We re the tie-in piece of the eyes, ears, and the sense of touch that feeds all that information to and from the brain to sword, in this case, meaning the VLS missiles that we re firing. SSC Pacific has the capability to come up live as a shipboard representation in the global BMD architecture to provide verification and validation services to other BMD platforms. SSC Pacific provides the capability to Aegis ships (and other BMD platforms), seamlessly from the perspective of other ships in the architectures. It is more flexible as the Navy does not need to sortie a ship somewhere off the coast to get it up and radiating information. The BTS lab can test ship systems in the same operational environment as a ship-at-sea. The same capability will transition to Aegis Ashore. The first step in building assured C4I capability for Aegis Ashore will occur in SSC Pacific labs. The actual C4I equipment for all of the Aegis Ashore sites will come through SSC Pacific s Aegis Ashore Test and Integration Facility (Lab 150) prior to delivery to each system s operational locations. While in Lab 150, the actual equipment will be connected to an Aegis weapons system (located in the BTS) and testing will be conducted that emulates actual missile fires, intercepts, and tracks to ensure the C4I component of the system is fully functional. Hallock says it is nice to see the program mature. The equipment is now being powered up and connected within the SSC Pacific facility. We also had a substantial upgrade to the facility to make sure it meets the necessary requirements for Aegis Ashore. The lab deck sustains the heavy removable equipment units (REUs) stacked with C4I equipment, and includes an upgraded power system and adequate cooling. Certification Support When the equipment is deployed to PMRF, and the facility is preparing to do its initial certification for flight tests, the A3C4I team will be online passing data and verifying that systems are up and functional. When sites are deployed to Romania and Poland during the later phases of PAA, SSC Pacific will be up with them, passing data to them. These sites will be 24-hour sites, and any time they have a problem or are running routine maintenance, SSC Pacific will be available as a partner to provide connectivity and C4I reach back to Team SPAWAR. The Center s system can come up live at any time to support warfighters throughout the in-service life of the system. Aegis BMD Weapons System Baseline Aegis Ashore will use the prototype of what the ship is going to experience when Aegis BMD combat weapons systems are upgraded to the Advanced Capability SSC Pacific s Aegis Ashore Test and Integration Facility (Lab 150). The first step in building assured C4I capability for Aegis Ashore will occur in SSC Pacific labs.

3 Baseline 9E system, which includes BMD version 5.0. Baseline 9 will be the latest and most advanced weapons system in the fleet. Its design is modular and uses a blade server system. A blade server houses multiple server modules ( blades ) in a single chassis. With a blade-based operational system, warfighters can achieve significant processing and performance upgrades as newer technology becomes available. In support of A3C4I, the Aegis Ashore Baseline 9E version has been integrated at SSC Pacific to support C4I systems validation testing (SVT). The system, accompanied with high-fidelity simulation, will provide the environment necessary for the team to execute its test objectives prior to deployment to the first site at PMRF. Focusing on the Warfighter Warfighters will man the Aegis Ashore sites, including the site at PMRF. In support of the warfighter and in coordination with MDA, SSC Pacific plans to provide Aegis Ashore training opportunities utilizing its HWIL capability and key role as an Aegis Ashore system in MDA s integrated and distributed network. U.S. Navy watch teams will have the opportunity to team with system engineers and subject matter experts to execute BMD operational scenarios during system testing. Sailors will have the opportunity to gain valuable insight and timely hands-on training prior to deployment. Decision Making When BMD shore sites are up and operational, the time needed to make a decision is minutes. It is really more of a situation where the system is automatic, where operators are up 24/7 as to whether to negate a launch or not. With the sensors and the array of sensors available, the warfighter will know whether a missile is a hostile threat or not, and will have better data on which to base decisions. One of the critical parts C4I provides is that it is now much more a part of the kill chain. Before, an organic Aegis ship would use its own sensors to get the data warning of an incoming missile. Now, missiles are launched way beyond that range, says Hallock. C4I is critical to everything the BMD operator does. Everything is based on a BMDS layered defense strategy, critical fire control data exchange, and capability to launch on remote data. That means you re going to be launching off data that s not organic to your own sensors. So, that s something that s definitely key for these systems. SSC Pacific is moving the Navy into the unchartered waters of shore-based ballistic missile defense, but if SSC Pacific s success with Aegis Afloat C4I systems is any indication of the future, the U.S. and its allies can rest assured that Navy shorebased BMD will become a reality in protecting the NATO alliance from ballistic missile attacks. Test Complex at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii. Conceptual iilustration courtesy of the Missile Defense Agency. 3

4 4 Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense provides a unique and flexible system suitable for shore-based missile defense.

5 Aegis-class destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) launches a standard missile (SM3), successfully intercepting a sub-scale short-range ballistic missile, launched from the Kauai Test Facility. 5