NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN - As part of an At-Sea-Demo/Formidable Shield 2021 exercise, the U.S. Navy’s destroyer, USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), fired two Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor missiles to engage ballistic missile targets launched from the Hebrides Range on May 26 and May 30. In the groundbreaking engagement, the Royal Netherlands Navy’s HNLMS De Zeven Provincian (F802) employed its advanced combat system to provide early warning ballistic tracking to the maritime task group. DDG-117 had the opportunity to demonstrate combined capabilities and interoperability with NATO assets, according to Cmdr. Lennard Cannon, commanding officer of the ship. The ability to launch, track and intercept missiles is key to improved defensive capability, capacity and ultimately deterrence against a missile threat. Ballistic missile launches are also very complex to track, and requires precision engineering to engagement at hypersonic speed. (US Navy 06/01/21) Gulf Coast Note: DDG-117 was built at HII Ingalls shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and commissioned in July 2019.
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