MissileThreat.com

Country:	USA
Basing:	Air

Details

The Boost Phase Interceptor (BPI) project was an attempt to destroy a ballistic missile in its boost phase using a high velocity interceptor missile launched from a fighter jet. Although the concept was proven feasible in 1995, the Pentagon discontinued the project that same year.

 

In its boost phase, a ballistic missile is slow and vulnerable, its location is predictable, and countermeasures and decoys cannot be deployed. In early 1994, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) and the U.S. Air Force (USAF) sponsored an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) to determine whether boost phase interception was feasible. The goal was to launch a high speed hit-to-kill missile from an F-14 or F-15 fighter that would track and destroy a ballistic missile seconds after launch.(1)

 

As envisioned, the BPI’s velocity would have exceeded 3 km/s and the missile would have had a maximum range of 120 km. According to the plan, the ACTD would have served as the precursor to a larger missile capable of traveling at 5.5 km/s with a range of 250 km.(2) As noted by the Pentagon, the BPI would have supplemented other portions of a layered ballistic missile defense such as the Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).(3) The goal was to create an effective first-layer capable of detecting and destroying Scud-type missiles.(4)

 

After successful testing, the BMDO and the USAF concluded that the system was technically feasible, but that the number of fighters required to provide an effective defense would have been unmanageable. A fighter-launched BPI would require scores of fighters in constant combat air patrol patterns to loiter near possible launch sites to detect a missile launch.(5) For this reason, in May 1995 the Pentagon announced that it would “not proceed” with the BPI ACTD until an operations concept for boost phase interceptions was developed.(6) The inherent difficulty that an aircraft-launched interceptor would have to be in the right place at the right time is a problem also inherent to such things as the Airborne Laser and the ground-launched, boost-phase Kinetic Energy Interceptor.

 

A recent Israeli BPI effort demonstrated the feasibility of using high-altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to perform boost phase interceptions. The Israelis concluded that such a system would be complementary and cost effective to terminal missile defense systems.(7)

 

 

 

 

Footnotes

 

1. “AF Seeks Boost-Phase Interceptor Data, Wants to Run ACTD in 1995,” Aerospace Daily, 9 March 1994.
2. GlobalSecurity.org, “Boost-Phase Intercept ACTD,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/bpi-actd.htm, accessed on 11 May 2005.
3. Barbara Starr, “US Missile Defence Set for a Journey into Space,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 20 August 1994.
4. John D. Morrocco, “Pentagon Moves Forward on ACTDs,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 4 July 1994.
5. Barbara Starr, “US Missile Defence Set for a Journey into Space,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 20 August 1994.
6. Barbara Starr, “ACTD on Back Burner until BPI Is Developed,” Jane’s Defence Weekly, 13 May 1995. 
7. GlobalSecurity.org, “Boost-Phase Intercept ACTD.”

Possible Role for Fighters in Missile Defense

May 11, 2005 :: Inside Defense :: News

The Missile Defense Agency and the Navy are studying means of defending ships against short range ballistic missiles, which includes a number a new basing options for previously ground-based interceptors such as THAAD and Patriot, reports the May 10 edition of Inside Missile Defense. A working group’s report, “Sea-Based Terminal Ballistic Missile Defense Assessment,” is said to be due in June.
        The plan for a “sea-based terminal defense” considers the possibilities for development and fielding around 2010. Besides arming fighter aircraft with modified PAC-3 or even the longer range THAAD interceptors, “marinized” versions of both could plausibly also be placed on ships, according to various sources cited. The Aegis ship-based defenses would also likely be incorporated into any sea-based defense for ships.
        The aircraft-launched versions would be of use for defense against ballistic or cruise missile attacks against our coast, provided of course the fighters were in the right place at the right time, within range of the missile: “In theory,” a source quoted said, “you could put two THAADs on an F-15.”
        The reports are similar in concept to the jet fighter-based Anti-Satellite Weapons or Boost Phase Interceptors (BPI) discussed in previous years.  (Article, Link) 

» More stories on: Air, Sea-Based Systems

» Missile system details for: Boost Phase Interceptor (BPI), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)