From an e-mail forwarded to me:
-----Original Message-----
> From: Communications Roundtable
> Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 12:31 PM
> Subject: MDA All: Missile Defense Agency Completes Successful
> Radar Tracking Test
>
> Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering, Missile Defense Agency
> director, announced the successful completion of a test today
> involving the tracking of a target missile with an upgraded early
> warning radar located at Beale Air Force Base in northern California
> that is being incorporated into the Ballistic Missile Defense System.
> A long-range Strategic Targets System (STARS) rocket was launched at
> 7:09 a.m. Alaska Standard Time (11:09 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) from
> the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. The rocket was
> successfully tracked by the Beale AFB radar during the exercise, and
> target data, including a weapon task plan, was successfully
> transmitted to the Joint National Integration Center in Colorado
> Springs, Colo. where it was inputted into the Command, Control, Battle
> Management and Communication system. No interceptor missile was
> launched during the exercise, but the test did include the launch of a
> simulated interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. using
> performance data from previous interceptor launches.
> The early warning radar at Beale AFB has been a part of the United
> States ballistic missile early warning system since 1980, and is
> operated by the Air Force Space Command. Upgrades to the early warning
> radar included the replacement of electronic hardware and computer
> software. The hardware modifications included replacing existing
> computers, graphic displays, communication equipment, and the radar
> receiver/exciter in order to better identify and provide more precise
> tracking of a ballistic missile launched against the United States.
> The radar is part of an extensive network of land and sea-based radars
> now being developed and deployed to detect and track ballistic
> missiles, and to provide targeting information to interceptor missiles
> through the command and control system. Over the next several years,
> existing early warning radars in the United Kingdom and Greenland will
> also be upgraded for the missile defense mission.
>
>Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>Caveats: NONE