This test involved Raytheon Integrated Defense System's (IDS) radar and ground equipment and the currently under development post deployment software build six acquiring and tracking the incoming targets and then passing the data to Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 missiles.
The mission was conducted in a battalion configuration with three Patriot fire units, which were operated by troops from Ft. Bliss, Texas, distributed in a tactical configuration. The missiles utilized for this mission were cost reduction initiative rounds with recently upgraded components.
This test validated acquisition and tracking of nearly simultaneous targets followed by the successful intercepts. During the test there were six missiles in the air at one time (two targets and four interceptors), making this one of the more complicated tests ever conducted at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.