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July 5, 2008
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Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV)
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Land |
| In Service: | 2004, on GBI |
Details
The Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is a small flying device located in the tip of a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missile. It is designed to separate from the GBI in flight, punch through the Earth’s atmosphere, and smash into an incoming ballistic missile in its midcourse phase, i.e. while the missile is at its highest trajectory. Once operational, the EKV will be a critical part of the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, scheduled for deployment in September 2004.
The GMD project began in 1998 as part of a $1.6 billion dollar initial contract to Boeing. Raytheon is developing the EKV, and the project is currently undergoing extensive ground and flight tests. Each EKV will cost between $20 and $25 million and will include a range of sophisticated devices: infrared sensors, an internal navigational system, antennas, thruster engines, a cryogenic cooling system, and a small computer. Even with all its components, the entire device can fit comfortably on a kitchen table.
Once deployed, the GMD system will consist of GBI missiles deployed in underground silos protecting all 50 states. Each interceptor will carry an EKV in its tip. In the event that an enemy missile is detected, the GMD command center will give the launch command and the GBI missile will climb toward the target’s predicted location, receiving in-flight updates from ground-based radars and satellites along the way.
Almost immediately after its launch, the EKV will begin its cryogenic cooling process. Krypton gas will surround its infrared sensors, allowing ice cubes to form that will cool the sensors to hundreds of degrees below zero. Even though a midcourse-phase ballistic missile will not have heat-producing rocket plumes, its warhead will remain relatively warm against the ice-cold background of space. The EKV’s cooled infrared sensors will be capable of detecting even the smallest amounts of heat radiation.
Three minutes into its flight (approximately 1,400 miles from its target), the EKV will separate from the GBI. Dozens of cables will be blown off and four springs will propel the kill vehicle forward. The EKV will immediately bank sharply to either the right or the left to avoid being hit from behind by the booster. From this point forward, the kill vehicle will proceed to the target on its own momentum.
As the EKV closes in on its target, the combined velocity of the kill vehicle and the incoming missile will approach 15,000 miles per hour (four miles per second, or five times the speed of a bullet), leaving little room for last minute maneuvers. As Charles F. LaDue, Raytheon’s program manager, once remarked, “It’s like hitting a golf ball across the country, from Los Angeles to New York, and getting a hole in one even though the pin is moving and there are a whole bunch of others that look just like it.”
Approximately 100 seconds before impact, the EKV’s infrared sensors will switch on and begin tracking the incoming ballistic missile. To achieve complete threat neutralization, the EKV will collide with the warhead’s “sweet spot,” an area just a few centimeters wide where the missile’s payload is located. In the event of a precise hit, the kinetic energy of the EKV and the missile will pulverize the warhead and destroy any nuclear, chemical, or biological agents it might be carrying.
Despite its many technical obstacles, five out of seven test interceptions have been successful. The most recent was on October 14, 2002, when an interceptor from the Reagan Test Site in the central Pacific Ocean tracked and destroyed a target vehicle launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at an altitude of 140 miles and a closing speed in excess of 15,000 miles per hour. MDA plans to perform approximately 17 more hit-to-kill intercepts over the next several years. MDA is also developing and constructing a Test Bed that will allow it to conduct rigorous EKV tests at angles, speeds, and conditions that closely resemble operational scenarios.
Due to these successes, the EKV program has received enthusiastic support from the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress. MDA is currently installing six GBI missiles at Fort Greely in Alaska, and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Over 20 interceptors, all of which will include EKVs, are scheduled for deployment over the next two years.
Sources
Fischer, Alan D. “Raytheon Kill Vehicle On Schedule.” Arizona Daily Star, 22 February 2003.
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products.
Goodrich Corporation.
Maas, Peter. “Get Ready, Here Comes The Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle; Star Wars Missile Defense: The Sequel.” New York Times Magazine, 26 September 1999.
“MDA Pleased With Raytheon Kill Vehicle Despite GAO Concerns.” Aerospace Daily, 3 February 2003.
Pae, Peter. “Kill Vehicle A Hit With Proponents Of Missile Defense.” Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2002.
Raytheon Company.
Smith, George. “Weapon of the Week: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle.” The Village Voice, 1-7 January 2003.
Successful Test of Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) Thruster
On July 16, a Lockheed Martin-led team completed initial testing of the kill vehicle divert thruster for the Missile Defense Agency’s Multiple Kill Vehicle Payload System. Using what is known as the “many-on-many” strategy, the Multiple Kill Vehicle system deploys multiple exoatmospheric kill vehicles from one interceptor missile (as opposed to the previous designs which included only one kill vehicle). If successfully completed, the many-on-many approach will allow one interceptor to target and destroy an enemy missile and its deployed countermeasures, thus conserving resources and reducing the need for extensive pre-launch intelligence.
In the recent tests, the prototype thruster and valve combination of the Multiple Kill Vehicle’s divert and attitude control system was successfully demonstrated using a liquid monopropellant. The divert and attitude control system positions the kill vehicle to intercept its target. The tests were completed by Aerojet, a Lockheed Martin subcontractor, in its facilities in Redmond, Washington.
» MDA press release on MKV test
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV)
Lockheed Working on Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV)
Lockheed Martin has completed the first kill vehicle pathfinder seeker for MDA’s Multiple Kill Vehicle System. Using what is known as the many-on-many strategy, the Multiple Kill Vehicle system deploys several exoatmospheric kill vehicles from each interceptor missile (as opposed to the previous designs which include only one EKV), which are then able to destroy the enemy missile itself as well as any countermeasures. The many-on-many approach is said to reduce the need for extensive pre-launch intelligence, and allows the BMD system to use its resources with greater discrimination and less waste. In the current stage of testing, Lockheed Martin has created a “vibration environment” similar to the one the Multiple Kill Vehicle will experience while performing its mission.
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV)
First Ground Based Interceptor Lowered Into Alaska Silo
The first Ground-Based Interceptor was today lowered into a silo at Fort Greely, Alaska, one of many which will soon form the first line of defense against long range ballistic missiles from countries such as North Korea. Five additional interceptors will be deployed in Alaska by the end of September, for a total of six. An additional ten are scheduled to be added to Fort Greely by the end of 2005, as well as an additional four at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, for a total of twenty. The interceptors form a major part of the Ground Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.
The first interceptor uses an Orbital booster, and will be armed with the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle, or EKV. Although placed inside the silo, it is not yet operational.
» More stories on: Deployment, Land-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
GMD Booster Test Successful
Saturday’s test of a booster for the ground-based missile defense system was successful. The test launch, which took place from Vandenburg Air Force Base, did not involve an intercept attempt, but was only for the booster itself. More tests are planned for this fall.
The GMD system will be based in Fort Greely, with 16 planned interceptors. These are the interceptors which would carry the EKV, which employs “hit-to-kill” technology. There are also plans for another four interceptors based in California, at Vandenburg. This is part of the limited system the Bush administration has said will be deployed by late 2004. The system is limited, in that while it would defend against a few missiles launched from far away, such as from North Korea, it could not defend from either a large number of missiles such as would be launched from Russia or Communist China, or any number of short-range missiles launched from close by, such as from a ship off our coast. The GMD system nevertheless provides an important foundation for a more robust and layered system which would include defenses based on land, sea, and in space.
» More stories on: Technology, Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
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