The Missile Defense Agency just successfully tested an AIM-9X missile modified with the Raytheon-developed Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element, firing it from an F-16 to intercept a boosting rocket used as a target boost-phase missile. According to an MDA release, the Dec. 3 test over the White Sands Missile Range included a second modified AIM-9X that observed the intercept through its NCADE seeker and “was also on a trajectory to intercept the target.” Raytheon Missile Systems VP Mike Booen said in a company statement, “This test provides clear evidence that the NCADE seeker is a viable solution against a [short- and medium-range] boosting missile threat.” MDA notes that fighters or unmanned aerial vehicles could carry an NCADE-equipped missile where the aircraft could “penetrate to within about 100 miles of the [missile] launch site.” The Air National Guard-Air Force Reserve Command Test Center at Tucson, Ariz., provided the F-16.
The Space Development Agency wants to wrap up its Tranche 1 launch campaign by the end of spring 2027, flying six more batches of satellites to build out its tracking and data transport constellations, according to Director Gurpartap Sandhoo.
