A mock medium-range ballistic missile was launched from a military transport C-17 aircraft, as part of a recent test of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence system.

According to released footage from the Missile Defence Agency, the full launch cycle of a surrogate ballistic missile from the cargo bay of the US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III airlifter can be observed. The launch was part of a recent missile defence test off the coast of Hawaii, nicknamed Stellar Sisyphus, also known as Flight Test Other-23 (FTX-23).

The Missile Defence Agency (MDA), the US Navy and the US Air Force supported the said firing test. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS McCampbell (DDG 85) and USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) along with the Aegis Ashore Missile Defence Test Complex participated in the test. 

The Jack H. Lucas is notably the first destroyer of the US Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke-class to enter service. A major feature of the Flight III Burkes is the addition of the new AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defence Radar (AMDR).

The video from FTX-23 seen below starts with the launch of a mock medium-range ballistic missile (MBRM). For this test, the surrogate missile was equipped with unspecified countermeasures, according to an official release. MRBMs are categorized as any ballistic missile with a maximum range between 1,000 and 3,000 km.

The mock MRBM is attached to a special pallet and is pulled out of the back of the C-17 bay by a pair of parachutes. Three larger parachutes then deploy and help the missile, still attached to its pallet, get into a vertical position with its nose up. The missile then falls away from the pallet and its rocket motor ignites.

The footage also includes multiple views of the USS McCampbell firing a Standard Missile 3 Block IIA (SM-3 Block IIA) anti-missile interceptor, one of the main weapons associated with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system.

MDA stated that the first part of this multi-sensor test successfully demonstrated that the Aegis Weapon System tracked and discriminated a complex target scene of a Medium Range Ballistic Missile target with countermeasures, while the second part of this test included the firing of a Standard Missile – 3 Block IIA (SM-3 Blk IIA), which intercepted the above-mentioned target.

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