Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense

The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system (formerly known as Sea-Based Midcourse Defense) is one-half of the Midcourse Defense Segment (MDS) of the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). It was originally envisioned as the mid-phase exoatmospheric (upper-tier) interceptor in the National Missile Defense (NMD) system.

Aegis BMD is made up of three basic components: sensors, interceptors, and command and control. BMD is the sea-based component...