Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Nardel Gervacio | 160525-N-ZK021-006 - PACIFIC OCEAN (May 25, 2016) - Sailors aboard the Arleigh...... read more read more
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PACIFIC OCEAN – The Arleigh Burke Class guided-missile destroyer USS Hopper (DDG 70) conducted two missile launches of the next generation prototype Standard Missile (SM-3) during a scheduled underway.
According to Raytheon.com, SM-3 is a defensive weapon used by the U.S. Navy to destroy short to intermediate range ballistic missile threats. The flexibility of SM-3 to both land and sea based offers countries that do not have ballistic missile defense enabled navies to take advantage of the SM-3’s capacity to protect areas of land, often referred to as regional defense.
The new-engineered design of the SM-3 improves its guidance systems in space, improving its capabilities from the previous design.
“The primary mission for this underway period is to conduct tests by launching these two missiles,” said Cmdr. J.D. Gainey, USS Hopper commanding officer. “They are special missiles that have the ability to engage in outer space.”
Gainey said, these missiles are significant because ballistic missile defense is a warfare area that not only concerns men and women overseas, but other countries as well. The ability for these missiles to reach out and touch their homelands has a potential for bad things to happen. This exercise allows us to test the missiles ability to engage in outer space to keep our country safe.
Sailors involved with the missile launch along with members of the Missile Defense Agency onboard worked tirelessly together in the days leading up to the launch and as a result both missile launch went off with success at the end.
“It was exhilarating, especially when it went off, you feel the vibrations and everything,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class Brent Castillo. “The preparation that we did wasn’t all for nothing. It was good to see the final product of all the hard work that everybody involved put in.”
During the first missile launch, Sailors got to watch a live feed on site-TV.
“It’s a great opportunity for USS Hopper to be able to shoot this test missile, the crew worked for it,” said USS Hopper Command Master Chief Augustine Cooper. “They performed well, they earned the right to do it, we had the opportunity and we performed.”
While underway, the ship also tested other warfare capabilities as well. Gun exercises of all calibers were put to the test in an effort to practice anti-submarine, and anti-air warfare to maintain the crew’s proficiency.
“We’re out here testing our equipment and exercising the crew in all scenarios,” said Gainey. “Not only are we trained and ready to conduct a win in warfare, we know our equipment is ready as well. The most important thing for the ship and the crew is when we deploy, we are deploying with one hundred percent confidence.”
The crew also simulated engineering casualty scenarios that could make the ship pull into port for repairs, and issues with the combat systems while maintaining the ship in full operational status underway.
“Phenomenal, our Sailors worked hard, trained hard putting long hours and they performed when duty called, that’s what we do,” said Cooper about the crews performance.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2016 15:30 |
| Story ID: | 204764 |
| Location: | HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 308 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, USS Hopper Conducts Next Generation SM-3 Missile Exercise, by PO1 Nardel Gervacio, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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