page_title: USS Lake Erie (CG-70)
section_title: Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System testbed
hierarchical_section_title: USS Lake Erie (CG-70) / History / Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System testbed
caption_attribution_description: English: The Pacific Ocean, Jan. 25, 2001 — The Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) launches a Standard Missile III as part of an Aegis Intercept Flight Test Round (FTR-1A) mission at the Pacific Missile range. The test demonstrates third stage airframe stability and control. The SM-3 is the U.S. Navy's new exo-atmospheric missile developed to counter Theater Ballistic Missile threats outside the atmosphere. The Pacific Missile range is headquartered in the mid-Pacific on the island of Kauai, Hi. Jan. 25, 2001
context_page_description: USS Lake Erie (CG-70) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy, commissioned in 1993. She was named after the U.S. Navy's decisive victory in the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. The cruiser was the first U.S. Navy ship to be commissioned in Hawaii.
context_section_description: In August 1998, as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, modifications were made aboard Lake Erie and Port Royal, which consisted of modifications to the Aegis weapons system on board Ticonderoga-class cruisers; a modification, known as Linebacker, and which uses specialized computing and radar software and hardware to provide improved tracking and reporting capabilities, and when coupled with the SM-2 Block IVA, intercept Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBM). Ballistic missile testing afforded Port Royal and other participants an opportunity to flex the capabilities of the current Aegis weapon system against a live ballistic missile target and gave a representation of how the modified system tracks and destroys TBMs.
  Lake Erie and Port Royal were then to conduct at sea testing, develop core doctrine and tactics, and serve as focal points for putting the TBMD technology in the hands of the warfighters in the rest of the fleet. Sailors on board both ships were also to provide early feedback to the technical community and influence the final design of the TBMD system. Successful Linebacker sea trials at the Pacific Missile Range, Kauai, Hawaii took place in the fall of 1998.
  On 17 December 1999, Lake Erie returned to her homeport at Naval Station Pearl Harbor after completing a six-month deployment to the western Pacific and Persian Gulf. The guided missile cruiser had once more deployed with the Constellation battle group.
  In March 2000, the US Navy began ALI live fire tests and had successfully conducted the first Controlled Test Vehicle. Shiloh had conducted the first ALI live firing test in September 1999 and had successfully demonstrated the launch and flight sequence through third stage separation as well as verified flight stability at extreme altitude. Though the original plan had been to conduct all Flight Test Round shots from Shiloh, the need for further testing conflicted with her operational schedule. Therefore, it was decided by the Chief of Naval Operations to shift to Lake Erie to conduct the next firings in the ALI testing program. Lake Erie, already equipped with Area Linebacker modifications, was, as of 2 March 2000, receiving ALI equipment modifications in Pearl Harbor and was to conduct system checks and training to support the planned test firings.
  In early July 2000, the US Navy announced that Lake Erie had been designated the Navy's theater-wide test ship for the AEGIS Lightweight Exoatmospheric Projectile intercept flight-test series. For the next two years, Lake Erie would be dedicated to conducting these critical tests. Lake Erie’s home port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, made the ship's participation in tests at the Pacific Missile Range Facility off Kauai cost-effective with the Navy anticipating that the ship would not deploy operationally again for about two years.
  In January 2001, Lake Erie conducted the Aegis Light Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) Intercept Flight Test Round (FTR-1A) mission in the mid-Pacific using the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii. Equipped with Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) computer programs and hardware, Lake Erie launched an SM-3 missile demonstrating third stage airframe stability and control through nominal kinetic warhead fourth stage separation. The SM-3 is the Navy's new exo-atmospheric missile developed to counter theater ballistic missile (TBM) threats outside the atmosphere.
  On 9 February 2001 Lake Erie sortied from Pearl Harbor to assist along with Coast Guard boats and cutters with rescue efforts after the attack submarine Greeneville struck a Japanese fishing vessel while surfacing at approximately 1:45 pm (HST) about nine miles south of the Diamond Head crater off Honolulu, Hawaii. The fishing vessel, named Ehime Maru, rapidly flooded and sank within 10 minutes in 1,800 feet (550 m) of water. Twenty-six of 35 aboard were rescued. Ehime Maru had been on a fishing and research mission when Greeneville rapidly surfaced and collided with her stern. At the time of the accident the Los Angeles-class submarine was conducting an "emergency ballas
caption: USS Lake Erie launches an anti-ballistic missile RIM-161 Standard missile 3 III off Kaua'i, Hawaii (2001)
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