THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 25, 1995 TAG: 9502250224
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Four Norfolk-based ships, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, were part of a successful test in the Adriatic Sea on Friday of a new missile defense tracking system being developed by the Army and Navy.
In the exercise, which continues today, the ships are locating and tracking computer-simulated attack missiles ``fired'' from sites in Europe. The information is relayed to Army Patriot missile batteries in Germany, which in a real-life situation, could use the data to fire on the attacker.
A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the ships tracked and relayed data about six simulated missiles to the Patriots on Friday. Information on the missiles' trajectories and launching points also was relayed to Navy F/A-18 jets, which in a real attack would have moved to knock out the launch sites.
The major improvement in the system from those currently in use, the official said, is its ability to provide precise, ``fire control quality'' information almost instantaneously to the jets and the Patriot batteries.
In a war situation, the official suggested, radars aboard ships in the Mediterranean might pick up and track missiles launched toward Europe from Asia or the Middle East before those missiles got within range of Patriot radars. By providing precise, instant information, the ship tracking would give the Patriots vital extra seconds to respond to the attack.
The initial test of the ``cooperative engagement capability,'' or CEC, will continue today aboard the Eisenhower, the cruisers Anzio and Cape St. George, and the destroyer Kidd, the official said. by CNB