Army Orders 159 PAC-3 Interceptors
February 19, 2004 :: Lockheed Martin :: News
Lockheed Martin has received contracts to produce 159 PAC-3 interceptors and their related equipment for the Army. 22 Patriot missiles are said to replace those used during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The interceptors are expected to be delivered by 2006. Additional contracts include enhancements to the Patriot to make it more maneuverable. (Article, Link)
» Video of PAC-3 launch, interception
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Policy
» Missile system details for: Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)
Third Test Flight of GMD Missile Booster a Success
January 27, 2004 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
Yesterday’s test of a new booster rocket for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system was a success. The test, Integrated Flight Test-13b, began with an Orbital booster rocket lifting off from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific, and then traveling to a simulated intercept point some 800 miles downrange and at an approximate altitude of 170 miles. No intercept was attempted, although a target missile and a kill vehicle were simulated. The successful test follows another held on January 9. (More »»»)
» MDA Booster Rocket Program press release, noting “dual-booster strategy” for rocket acquisition
» Orbital press release
» Jan. 9, 2003: Lockheed Booster Test
» Oct. 25, 2003: First missile defense brigade activated, in Colorado
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Alaskan Missile Defense Unit the Second to be Activated
January 22, 2004 :: Fairbanks Daily News :: News
An Alaskan missile defense unit, to be based at Fort Greely, is the second to be activated in anticipation for the scheduled deployment of the ground-based system in September or October of this year. A ceremony for the formal activation was held at Fort Greely on Thursday.
In October, the Colorado National Guard’s 100th Missile Defense Brigade was the first to be activated. It is based at the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center near Colorado Springs. The Alaska unit is similarly manned by Alaska National Guard soldiers. (More »»»)
» Washington Times: AK MD Unit Activated
» October 25, 2003: Colorado MD Unit First to be Activated
» Army Times: Missile Defense Space Batallion activated
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Policy
Successful Test-Launch of GMD Booster
January 9, 2004 :: The Missile Defense Agency :: News
The MDA today conducted a simple booster verification test launch of the three stage Lockheed Martin booster, Booster Verification Test-5, which is to be used for the Ground-Based Midcourse defense system to be deployed this year in Alaska and California.
A second booster for the GMD system is being built by the Orbital company, which is owned by Boeing. (Article, Link)
» Photo of booster launch
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Major MDA Contract for Boost-Phase Interceptor
December 3, 2003 :: San Diego Union Tribune :: News
After an eight month competition with Lockheed Martin, the Missile Defense Agency has awarded an eight-year, 4.5 billion dollar contract to Northrop Grumman to produce an interceptor to destroy ballistic missiles during their boost-phase. This is the MDA’s first “capability-based” contract, and involves a design that would have been banned under the old ABM Treaty.
The contract is to produce a ground-based Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI). Its use of kinetic energy simply means that the interceptor would physically impact the missile: “hit-to-kill” technology. Unlike the Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) being constructed in Alaska which would intercept long-range missiles during their midcourse phase in space, the KEI, while ground-based is designed to intercept missiles in their boost phase, that is, during their ascent. As the boost phase for even a long-range missile is no more than roughly five minutes, the KEI would have to be located near enough the launch site of the enemy missile in order to still reach it during that phase. It also has to accelerate very fast, perhaps as much as 5,000 miles per hour. This particular interceptor design would be compatible of being launched from either land or sea. It would be capable of being loaded onto aircraft and deployed anywhere in the world. Northrop Grumman will likely initially produce five mobile launchers for the KEI.
A layered-defense is ultimately necessary, but interception during the boost-phase has a number of advantages. It is during this phase that a missile is at its most vulnerable: during ascent a missile is moving at a slower speed; the body of the missile is under considerable pressure; its exhaust plumes make it more visible and thus trackable; its fuel tanks, which are still attached, constitute a larger target; no countermeasures or decoys can be deployed, and of course should the interception fail, time remains for a second attempt in the midcourse or terminal phases. (Article, Link)
» DoD Release: Northrop Grumman Boost Phase contract
» More stories on: Budget, Land-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI)
Fort Bliss to Test New “Patriot Lite”
July 23, 2003 :: El Paso Times :: News
The Fort Bliss Army Base in Texas is set to test the latest configuration of the Patriot terminal defense interceptors. This “next phase” of the system is said to be smaller, more agile, and quicker to set up in the field. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Patriot
Adelman on MEADS
July 9, 2003 :: Tech Central Station :: Analysis
Ken Adelman, assistant to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from 1975 to 1977 and U.N. ambassador and arms-control director under President Ronald Reagan, discusses the “next generation” of SDI, and the capabilities of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Analysis, Land-Based Systems, Technology
» Missile system details for: Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS)
Successful GMD Test
March 15, 2002 :: Department of Defense :: News
The Missile Defense Agency reports the fourth successful test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Segment, in the most complex missile defense test to date. At 9:11pm Saturday, a modified Minuteman ICBM was launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California, fired out into the Pacific. Twenty minutes later, a prototype interceptor was launched from the Ronald Reagan missile site on the Marshall Islands, some 4,800 miles away. The interceptor destroyed the missile in midcourse at 9:40, over 140 miles above the earth.
Like the sea-based test of January 25, this test also used an exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV), destroying the target warhead by impact alone. The test demonstrated the complete integration of space- and ground-based sensors and radars, including a prototype of the X-band radar. (Article, Link)
» More stories on: Land-Based Systems, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
 |
| Total Records: 28 |
«
1
2
[3]
|
