Maritime Theater Missile Defense Forum Completes At Sea Demonstration

The Maritime Theater Missile Defense (MTMD) Forum wrapped up its At Sea Demonstration 2015 event in October, culminating nearly four years of planning and three weeks of at sea operations in the North Atlantic. While assessment of ship interoperability and the measurement of individual and collective Integrated Air and Missile Defense capability by participating ships was the primary purpose of the exercise, there were a number of significant events during ASD15. Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the United States conducted Surface-to-Air missile firing events; France, Norway, and the United Kingdom conducted Radar and Combat Systems Development Trials; and the United States, with the assistance of its Forum partners, conducted the first ballistic missile defense capable Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) launch in Europe. Hosted by the United Kingdom, the MTMD Forum's maritime Task Group successfully assessed the Forum's ability to build a common tactical picture; shared situational awareness; executed coalition-level mission planning and engagement coordination; conducted force level pre-planned responses and as a result are now better able to understand individual and collective capabilities and limitations.

Transcript

00:00:01 THE MARITIME THEATER MISSILE DEFENSE FORUM CONDUCTED THE AT SEA DEMONSTRATION 2015 ON THE NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN, UNDER A MULTINATIONAL EFFORT. "IT IS HISTORIC, AND IT IS DOUBLY HISTORIC BECAUSE IT IS NOT JUST THE UNITED STATES NAVY, BUT IT IS A GROUP OF... EIGHT NATIONS THAT IT HAD COME HERE WITH ELEVEN SHIPS THAT ARE TOTALLY INTERCONNECTED AND THAT ARE NETTED THAT THEY DEMONSTRATED THIS

00:00:25 CAPABILITY TODAY. I THINK IS EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT THAT WE DEMONSTRATED WITH A LIVE TEST THE ABILITY OF A FLOTILLA OF SHIPS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY TAKE-OUT A MISSILE THREAT, A BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT, AND A CRUISE MISSILE THREAT, THAT'S NEVER DONE BEFORE." THE GOAL OF THE MARITIME THEATER MISSILE DEFENSE FORUM, IS TO PROVIDE PROTECTION AGAINST THE PROLIFERATION OF SHORT, MEDIUM,

00:00:47 AND LONG RANGE BALLISTIC MISSILES.