Another test of the U.S. Navy’s Mark 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System (PDS) was conducted last month off the coast of Hawaii for Pacific Defender 24, this time featuring, for the first time, the launch of a RIM-161B SM-3 Block IA anti-ballistic missile which successfully engaged a ballistic target using offboard sensor data.
Participating ships in the exercise included USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), USS Kidd (DDG 100), USS Shiloh (CG 67), HMAS Sydney (DDG 42), ITS Montecuccoli (P432), JS Haguro (DDG 180), ROKS Yulgok Yi I (DDG 992), and HNLMS Tromp (F803). The exercise also featured an E-7A Wedgetail from the RAAF, a P-8A from the U.S. Navy, and a MQ-9 from the California Air National Guard.
The test itself featured an Aegis Readiness Assessment Vehicle-B (ARAV-B) threat representative medium ballistic missile (MRBM) target and the new Integrated Air and Missile Defense Target (IAMD-T) pitted against the USS Carl M. Levin (DDG 120) and an unnamed ship carrying the Mark 70 PDS launcher. Both the Carl M. Levin and the unnamed ship launched RIM-161B SM-3 Block IA anti-ballistic missiles.
IAMD-T is a new target developed by NAVSEA’s White Sands Detachment, Suborbital Vehicles Team. It is designed to test the SM-2 and SM-6 in complex intercepts, including intercepts of hypersonic vehicles. In Pacific Defender 24, range control terminated the test vehicle while it was in flight. This was done as part of a plan to test guidance and communication capabilities throughout the entire test vehicle flight.
“During [Pacific Defender 2024], the target vehicle will carry a qualified flight termination system — a device that enables range control to disable the vehicle remotely — and plans call for demonstrating the vehicle’s full guidance capability during all phases of flight, rather than just the final descent.”
Thomas McMahon, Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme
What Is The Navy’s Mark 70 Mod 1 Payload Delivery System?
The Mark 70 PDS is a containerized version of the U.S. Navy’s Mark 41 Vertical Launch System, packing four Mark 41 VLS cells into a container that can be carried by a semi-truck and deployed on land. It can also be hosted on other U.S. Navy ships for additional magazine depth while at sea.
Development of the Mark 70 PDS may date back as far as 2019 when initial land-based firing tests of the RIM-174 SM-6 were conducted, but the system was publicly unveiled in 2021 with a live-fire test aboard USV Ranger. The system was demonstrated again in 2022 when a battery was deployed to Europe, this time with the Mark 70 PDS containers mounted on semi truck trailers. In 2023, it was tested onboard LCS 28, an Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship.
Why The Pacific Defender 2024 Milestone Is Important?
The Mark 70 PDS has been floated as a solution for vastly improved magazine depth in a high intensity conflict. It does not require integration to the host ship and can receive data from offboard sensors such as MQ-9s or Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) capable ships.
This test proved the applicability for Mark 70 PDS in a BMD scenario, further expanding the possible mission set for the containerized launcher. Ships not capable of BMD independently could carry SM-3 or SM-6 and use offboard data from aircraft or ships to defend from missile attacks. Unmanned assets could also provide targeting information, like MQ-9A Block 5 UAVs which recently conducted Link 16 tests with surface forces in 2021.
The containerized VLS cells could also be deployed on land to provide land-based BMD coverage to ground forces using offboard data from offshore maritime assets like SBX-1 or BMD-capable ships or airborne assets like UAVs and F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
The overarching theme behind Mark 70 PDS deployments, thus far, is to add magazine depth and magazine distribution to surface ships and land assets to provide a more comprehensive IAMD network.
In the case of Pacific Defender 24, the host ship does not appear to be Aegis-equipped nor does it appear to be a commissioned U.S. Navy ship given the red paint and overall appearance. A statement from a U.S. Navy spokesperson did not identify the ship used but did confirm the use of the Mark 70 containerized system to launch an SM-3 Block IA.
“We are unable to provide the vessel type and specific VLS system that was used at this time. The vessel supported Exercise Pacific Dragon 2024 by firing an SM-3 Block IA interceptor using a containerized system.”
U.S. Navy Spokesperson
The U.S. Navy declined to comment further on the ship type or what data was used to provide a firing solution to the missile and Mark 70 launcher.
