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system is a mobile unit (an oversized truck, actually) Theoretically, FREND could blind enemy satellites by with launchers on its back end. THAAD fires applying some type of eye-patch onto cameras. FREND "interceptors" into space that can destroy ballistic also some day might pick a satellite apart and let it drift missiles as well as atmospheric targets such as Scud __ like a jigsaw puzzle forever and ever. missiles. The interceptor has no munitions and simply The other well-known microsatellite is the NFIRE strikes a target with kinetic energy. The interceptor is (Near Field Infrared Experiment), which is also run by roughly six metres long and about eight inches (~20.3. the MDA. It is said to be able to track a ballistic missile centimetres) wide and weighs over 1,200 pounds (540 __ by its rocket plume, and was designed to be "fitted" with kilograms). Its rocket booster is four metres long, and a missile-like kill vehicle. NFIRE was launched into its "kill vehicle" (KV)—at the top of the interceptor—is — space in 2007—but without its planned kill vehicle, the about two metres long. At the tip of the kill vehicle is | Generation 2 KV. Arms-control experts had convinced an infrared sensor, and within its shell is a navigational he Senate to kill it, apparently. system. The THAAD's kill vehicle could be described as The MDA claimed that the Generation 2 KV would fly a huge spike that can fly at 15,000 mph with a range of _ directly near the plume of a ballistic missile and track it. 200 kilometres and at a height of 150 kilometres. In This would be an incredible feat, to say the least; but essence, it is the kinetic energy that is the most lethal. he kill vehicle, don't forget, could have a dual use: it Lockheed Martin is the main civilian contractor for could also be used as a kinetic interceptor and wreck THAAD, and deployment began in 2009. satellites. ¢ For the Navy and the Missile Defense Agency, the ¢ The Missile Defense Agency's one-billon-dollar Sea- Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is their sea- | Based X-Band Radar—built primarily by Boeing—is based missile defence. Some space weapons experts __ perhaps the strangest-looking ship ever to have cruised call the Aegis-equipped USS Lake Erie "mankind's first he Pacific. The alien-looking vessel is actually a space battleship”. revamped oil-drilling platform, and centred on its top is According to MissileThreat.com: "At the heart of _ its most striking feature: a tremendous white globe that Aegis is the AN/SPY-1 radar system. AN/SPY-1 sends — could engulf the middle of a soccer field. From the top out beams of electromagnetic energy in all directions, of this white globe to the water is an intimidating void thus allowing Aegis ships to track up to 100 targets _ of roughly 20 floors. simultaneously, while still retaining the ability to Hidden inside the inflated white ball is the clue to this counter other air, surface, and submarine threats. ship's ultimate mission: a radar dish so powerful that it AN/SPY-1 will be able to detect ballistic missiles as they can decipher a real ballistic missile from a balloon that tise above the horizon."” Like THAAD, the Aegis firesan _ looks like a ballistic missile, claims the US military. interceptor, but from a launch pad system. The vessel is actually a new and important piece in The Aegis interceptor, the SM-3, is also different in that it has a three- stage booster with its kill vehicle. GlobalSecurity.org states that the SM-3 has produced an impact during testing calculated at 125 megajoules, "le]quivalent to the force released when a ten ton truck traveling at 600 miles per hour hits a wall".® ¢ The Air Force and the Missile Defense Agency are close to developing microsatellites. Two of these have already been tested in space. There's the XSS-11, which is no larger than the fridge in your kitchen. The Air Force claims it can dock with malfunctioning US satellites and make repairs. How about approaching enemy satellites and sabotaging them? DARPA is currently developing a robotic arm for the XSS-11, called FREND (Front- end Robotics Enabling Near-term The Missile Defense Agency's Sea-Based X-Band Radar during deployment. Demonstration). Image source: http://missiledefenseadvocacy.org space. There's the XSS-11, which is no larger than the fridge in your kitchen. The Air Force claims it can dock with malfunctioning US satellites and make repairs. How about approaching enemy satellites and sabotaging them? DARPA is currently developing a robotic arm for the XSS-11, called FREND (Front- end Robotics Enabling Near-term Demonstration). JUNE - JULY 2011 NEXUS ° 13 www.nexusmagazine.com