09:10 GMT, March 19, 2009 KAUAI, Hawaii | A BAE Systems seeker detected an incoming target representing a ballistic missile in the most recent test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system.

The test, conducted March 17 by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and THAAD prime contractor and systems integrator Lockheed Martin, examined how the interceptor and other THAAD system components detect and intercept a target missile.

“In this test, the THAAD program demonstrated its tactical salvo capability, launching two THAAD interceptors,” said Bruce Whaley, seeker program manager at BAE Systems in Nashua, New Hampshire, where the THAAD seeker is developed and built.

“As the flight test program continues, the targets become more challenging to detect and hit, and the engagement scenarios more complex," Whaley said.

The BAE Systems seeker detects infrared imagery from the warhead to guide the interceptor to its target. THAAD intercept testing will continue through 2011.

THAAD is designed to defend U.S. and allied soldiers, military assets, and population centers from the threat of ballistic-missile attacks, destroying enemy warheads and missiles through direct “hit-to-kill” targeting. BAE Systems has worked on missile defense seekers since the late 1970s and achieved the first hit-to-kill intercept of a ballistic-missile target in 1984. The company recently delivered its first production seeker.

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