Current MDA News Releases

THAAD Intercepts Test Target

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Army soldiers of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, conducted a successful missile defense test today using the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. A medium-range target ballistic missile (MRBM) was air-launched by a U.S. Air Force C-17 over the Pacific Ocean. The THAAD weapon system located at Pacific Spaceport Complex Alaska in Kodiak, Alaska, detected, tracked and intercepted the target.

THAAD Successfully Intercepts Target in Missile Defense Test

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Ballistic Missile Defense System Operational Test Agency, and U.S. Army soldiers of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Fort Bliss, Texas, conducted an intercept test today of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) element of the nation’s ballistic missile defense system.

Aegis Missile Defense Test Conducted

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and the Japan Ministry of Defense conducted a development flight test today of a new Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile off the coast of Hawaii. A planned intercept was not achieved.

Missile Defense Agency Completes Change of Responsibility Ceremony

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) conducted a change of responsibility June 16 with U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves succeeding U.S. Navy Vice Adm. James D. Syring as the 10th director. Syring served as the MDA director since November 2012.

Two MDA Mentor Protégé Teams Win Nunn-Perry Award

The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Small Business Programs announced that two teams supporting the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) under the auspices of the Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor-Protégé Program will receive the prestigious Nunn-Perry Award. The award, named in honor of former Senator Sam Nunn and former Secretary of Defense William Perry, was first awarded in 1995 and recognizes mentor-protégé teams that have excelled in technical developments, cost effectiveness and increased business opportunities for small disadvantaged firms.

Homeland Missile Defense System Successfully Intercepts ICBM Target

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense and U.S. Northern Command, today successfully intercepted an intercontinental ballistic missile target during a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the nation’s ballistic missile defense system.

U.S., Japan Successfully Conduct First SM-3 Block IIA Intercept Test

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Japan Ministry of Defense (MoD), and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53) successfully conducted a flight test Feb. 3 (Hawaii Standard Time), resulting in the first intercept of a ballistic missile target using the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA off the west coast of Hawaii.