US Navy Approves Aegis System Anti-Missile Upgrade

The US Navy has granted certification to Baseline 9.C1 version of the Aegis missile defense system.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Navy has granted certification to the latest Baseline 9.C1 version of the Aegis missile defense system, which is claimed to be able to destroy air, ballistic missile targets simultaneously, Lockheed Martin stated in a press release.

"The Aegis Combat System Baseline 9.C1 offers unprecedented capabilities, including simultaneous air and ballistic missile defense [BMD]," Lockheed Martin Aegis Programs Director Jim Sheridan said in the release on Monday.

Baseline 9.C1 includes the latest ballistic missile defense programming and upgrade, and has the capability to shoot down ballistic missiles in both the upper and lower atmosphere, Lockheed Martin said.

"The BMD capabilities of Baseline 9.C1 are also present in Aegis Ashore, the ground-based missile defense program that is the second phase of the US Phased Adaptive Approach to protect Europe from ballistic missile attack," the release explained.

The US Navy and Missile Defense Agency conducted four tests on the USS John Paul Jones last summer, during which the Aegis system successfully intercepted two ballistic missile and two air warfare targets, the release added.