Latest variant of Patriot missile misfired in major test of command system

Test7 · Aug 26, 2020

During a major test of the Army's Integrated Battle Command System, a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile misfired when attempting to intercept a tactical ballistic missile target. (Courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

WASHINGTON — The most advanced variant of the Patriot missile misfired during a major test of the U.S. Army’s air and missile defense battle command system, which involved tactical ballistic missile and a cruise missile targets, an Army official confirmed.
Inside Defense, on Aug. 24, first reported the failure that occurred at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on Aug. 20.
A Patriot Advanced Capability-2 Guided Enhanced Missile was used against the cruise missile target, but the Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement missile that was intended to intercept the tactical ballistic missile target misfired, Col. Phil Rottenborn, the Integrated Battle Command System project manager within the Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space, confirmed for Defense News in an Aug. 26 statement.
Lockheed Martin is the manufacturer of all Patriot missile variants.
The test set up two interceptors to go up against the tactical ballistic missile, which was a Black Dagger Zombie target missile, and “the [IBCS] system did what it was designed to do” by deploying a PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative, or CRI, missile when the Patriot Missile Segment Enhancement missile misfired, which continued the engagement and took out the tactical ballistic missile, Rottenborn said.
An additional CRI was available but was not launched due to the system’s confirmation that an interceptor had destroyed the target, he added.
“Root cause analysis on the MSE misfire is ongoing, but preliminary indications are that all IBCS commands to the launcher were executed successfully,” Rottenborn said, “and that the error may lie within the missile, but further analysis is required to determine that with certainty.”
Rottenborn noted the MSE weapon is “a proven and capable missile with a great track record, and I’m confident the team will sort this out quickly.”