Posted: 05/01/2016
HAWAII (May 25, 2016) The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Navy sailors aboard USS Hopper (DDG 70) successfully conducted two developmental flight tests of the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB Threat Upgrade guided missile off the west coast of Hawaii. The flight tests, designated Controlled Test Vehicle (CTV)-01a and CTV-02, demonstrated the successful performance of design modifications to the SM-3 third-stage rocket motor (TSRM) nozzle. The results of these flight tests will support a future SM-3 Block IB production authorization request. This imagery is from the first developmental test conducted on May 25, 2016, designated as Controlled Test Vehicle (CTV)-01a. (U.S. Navy photo by Leah Garton)