Ballistic Missile Defense Capability Added To Japan’s Atago Warship

The US Navy tested Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capability on Japan’s Atago-class guided missile destroyer, the JS ATAGO (DDG-177), for the first time using an upgraded Aegis Combat System.

The Japanese Flight Test Mission-05 exercise on Sept. 11 successfully demonstrated organic engagement of a simple separating target.

The JS ATAGO Aegis Weapon System merges BMD into an Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability using commercial-off-the-shelf and open architecture technologies including the Aegis Common Source Library (CSL).

JS ATAGO is the first international ship to benefit from the CSL, which allows far greater interoperability across the fleet, reducing development training and sustainment costs.  It also improves flexibility in crew assignments.

"I commend the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force for their commitment to affordability and innovation," said Mary Keifer, director, Lockheed Martin's Aegis International programs, Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors. "This baseline modernization effort streamlined their lifetime support costs and provided a means to gain advanced BMD capability."

This successful BMD test builds upon joint research investments by the United States and Japan. Lockheed Martin is developing a Baseline 9 variant computer program for deployment on Japan's newest Aegis destroyers.