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July 4, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Home :: Missile Defense Systems
Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Land |
| In Service: | 2004 |
Details
The Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) is a multi-stage silo-launched booster rocket and kill vehicle that will track and destroy high-speed ballistic missiles in their midcourse phase, i.e. while the missiles are still outside the atmosphere and at their highest trajectory. Once operational, the GBI will be a critical part of the Missile Defense Agency’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which is scheduled for deployment in September 2004.
Although MDA developed many of GMD’s technologies during the 1980s and 1990s, the project officially began in 1998 with a $1.6 billion dollar initial contract to Boeing. Subcontractors include Orbital Sciences Corporation, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. Boeing is in charge of GBI’s development, and the project is currently undergoing extensive ground and flight tests. As currently envisioned, each GBI missile will consist of two main components: a three-stage booster rocket and the Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV).
MDA currently has two separate booster rockets in the works: Orbital Sciences Corporation is building the Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV), while Lockheed Martin is designing the Boost Vehicle Plus (BV-Plus). The OBV can fly at 3.7 miles per second; the BV-Plus maxes out at 3.4 miles per second. MDA believes that deploying a variety of booster rockets will strengthen the overall GMD system. According to Army Major General John W. Holly, Director of GMD, “If you can match the right weapon with the target that you are going after, . . . you are much more efficient in your engagement.”
On top of either the OBV or the BV-Plus will sit Raytheon’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The EKV is designed to track and destroy ballistic missiles outside the Earth’s atmosphere, hence its “exoatmospheric” nature. Each kill vehicle costs 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, all designed to maximize the probability of a successful “kill.” Yet even with all its components, the entire EKV will fit comfortably on a kitchen table. It is only 55 inches long, 24 inches in diameter, and weighs 140 pounds.
Once deployed, the GBI interceptors will be located in underground silos and will be connected to a web of satellites and radars that will continuously scan the entire globe for threats. In the event that an enemy missile is detected, the GMD command center will relay its launch command, and the designated GBI missile will blast out of its silo and climb toward the target’s predicted location, receiving in-flight tracking updates from the satellites and radars along the way.
As it streaks through its three boost stages, the GBI will gain speed. Three minutes into its flight (approximately 1,400 miles from its target), the EKV will separate from the third-stage booster rocket. Dozens of cables will be blown off, and four springs will propel the small payload forward. The EKV will immediately bank sharply to either the right or the left to avoid being hit from behind by the booster rocket. From this point forward, the kill vehicle will proceed to the target on its own momentum.
As the EKV closes in, 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. 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. The impact from a precise hit will pulverize the warhead and destroy any nuclear, chemical, or biological agents it might be carrying.
Since 1999, MDA has conducted seven hit-to-kill tests. Five have been successful. The most recent was on October 14, 2002, when a GBI 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.
Due to these successes, the GBI 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 are scheduled for deployment over the next two years.
Sources
“ATK Awarded $97 Million Contract to Supply Orion Rocket Motors to Orbital Sciences Corporation Rocket Motors Will Launch Orbital’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Orbital Boost Vehicle (OBV).” PR Newswire, 18 February 2004.
Federation of American Scientists.
Maas, Peter. “Get Ready, Here Comes The Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle; Star Wars Missile Defense: The Sequel.” New York Times Magazine, 26 September 1999.
Missile Defense Agency.
Morris, Jefferson. “Lockheed Martin Developing Advanced Booster For Missile Defense.” Aerospace Daily, 8 August 2002.
Orbital Sciences Corporation.
Pae, Peter. “Kill Vehicle A Hit With Proponents Of Missile Defense.” Los Angeles Times, 28 March 2002.
Sirak, Michael C. “Year of the Missile.” Air Force Magazine, January 2004.
Raytheon Company.
Tuttle, Rich. “Aerojet Aims To Take Over THAAD, BV-Plus Motor Work.” Aerospace Daily, 12 April 2004.
U.S. Department of Defense.
Warwick, Graham. “Missile Tests Wait For New Boosters.” Flight International, 21 January 2003.
Cooper, Pfaltzgraff, and Berman: Don't Ignore Sea- and Space-Based Missile Defense
An opinion piece by Henry Cooper, Robert Pfaltzgraff and Ilan Berman, calling for a new approach to missile defense, was featured in the October 22 edition of Defense News. Their article responds to comments by Missile Defense Agency head Lieutenant General Obering made July 23, which dismissed critics who advocate different operational concepts for American defense and appears to equate them with those who oppose missile defense entirely. The authors criticize the Missile Defense Agency's approach thus far which focuses on ground-based midcourse defenses, which unfortunately neglects sea and space assets which can better intercept missiles and better protect the country's vulnerabilities, often for less money.
For less than 10 percent of the MDA's $10 billion-per-year budget, the Navy has amassed an impressive test record: nine successful intercepts in 11 attempts with its SM-3 interceptor (10 for 12 if the Navy's successful test of its SM-2 Block 4 is also counted). Impressive indeed, compared with the five-for-10 record of the Alaska ground-based interceptor system...At a price tag of just $25 million for software fixes, investing in this expanded capability is something of a no-brainer...Then there is the matter of ship deployment. Of the 18 being given the SM-3 intercept capability, 16 are headed to the Pacific (the six already there are mostly protecting Japan). For just $62 million more, the Navy could begin outfitting another nine of the 80 Aegis ships around the world and deploy a contingent of 11 to defend against terrorists launching Scuds off our East Coast, as well as against Iranian ballistic missiles.
Space defenses are equally critical because they are best positioned to intercept missiles during their weak boost phase of launch, and because the U.S. is increasingly dependent on satellites of all kinds which are themselves susceptible to missile attacks.
As the anti-satellite test carried out by China in January amply demonstrated, a growing number of U.S. adversaries and strategic competitors are seeking to exploit, even dominate, space for military and commercial purposes. If the United States does not protect its interests in space--including through the deployment of missile defenses--we may soon find our security, which is critically dependent on our space systems, at the mercy of nations that have.
» More stories on: Analysis, Policy
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
Missile Defense Team Completes Flight Test and Intercepts Target Missile
On September 28 the Missile Defense Agency reported the successful test of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, including an intercept of a target missile. The Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska launched a long range ballistic missile target, traveling southward to resemble the trajectory of a North Korean missile. The upgraded Early Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base in California located and tracked the target. Seventeen minutes later, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California launched an interceptor missile, which released its exoatmospheric kill vehicle, the component that collides directly with the target warhead in space, a "hit to kill" kinetic technology. The interceptor successfully destroyed the target warhead, marking the seventh successful intercept of the GMD system, and the second time an operationally configured interceptor has been used in the past thirteen months. The test was described as highly complex, and integrating a number of components, including the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX) located in the northern Pacific and an Aegis ballistic missile defense ship using its onboard SPY-1 radar to track the target warhead.
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX), Aegis Ship-Based BMD
Malfunction with Target Missile Postpones GBI Intercept Attempt
Technical problems with a target missile derailed a highly anticipated U.S. test of its missile defense system on Friday. The test missile, a former Polaris submarine launched ballistic missile, was launched at 7:00 PM from Kodiak Island in Alaska, but due to problems with the target missile's flight, the interceptor at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was never launched to intercept it, and is thus recorded as a "no test" of the Ground Based Interceptor system. “We were not able to get the target downrange far enough or high enough to present a threat to the system,” said agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering. “It fell well short of the intended area. The system itself never had a chance to recognize it as a threat, and so did not respond to the target.” “There is always a risk of this occurrence since we are flying old intercontinental ballistic missile motors in our targets,” Obering said in a Missile Defense Agency press release. “We have initiated a target modernization program, within our existing budget which should mitigate these risks for the future. … We will attempt to repeat this test this summer.”
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
MDA Promotes Head of Ground-Based Midcourse Defense
The Missile Defense Agency has recently promoted the head of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program to the agency’s number two position. Since mid-2005, Brigadier General Patrick O’Reilly has managed the GMD program as it struggled to get back on track following several test failures in late 2004 and 2005, when interceptor missiles failed to leave their silos. On September 1, 2006, the system successfully intercepted a test-target missile, winning O’Reilly praise from Capitol Hill for his focus and professionalism. He is slated to take up the Missile Defense Agency deputy post in January 2007, but will continue his role as program manager of GMD for the time being.
» More stories on: Policy
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
Congress Secures Additional $200 Million for Missile Defense
Congress has secured an additional $200 million for the U.S. missile defense system. The funding is in the annual defense spending bill that was approved by a U.S. House-Senate conference committee last week, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The additional funds will be spent on “test infrastructure, operations support and additional interceptors for ground-based missile defense.” The final defense spending bill calls for $9.4 billion for all missile defense programs except the Patriot system in the fiscal year beginning October 1. That amount is $110 million above President Bush’s request. Spending on comparable programs was $8.74 billion in the current fiscal year. Of the $9.4 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, $2.8 billion is earmarked for the ground-based system. The defense spending bill now heads to each congressional chamber for final passage. Amendments are not permitted.
Similar to last year, the Senate Appropriations Committee added language to the defense spending bill expressing dissatisfaction with the Missile Defense Agency’s direction: “The committee is concerned that MDA is investing too much funding in future systems and technology in advance of adequate testing and fielding of currently available technology.” Last year, the Committee’s defense panel, chaired by Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), addressed the agency in similar terms. “Contrary to repeated Defense Department statements on spiral development and block upgrades for the missile defense program, MDA at best plans only marginal improvements to the capability of the GMD program’s ground-based interceptor,” it said then in its report.
» More stories on: Budget
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Poland Wants U.S. Pact in Exchange for Missile Silos
Poland wants a bilateral pact and improved air defenses in exchange for becoming the first missile defense site outside the U.S., reports Reuters. According to Polish Defense Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who spoke today to a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Poland has to be persuaded that the benefits of hosting a U.S. missile defense site outweigh potential risks such as becoming a greater target. “I would need to go in front of parliament and say, well, why overall it’s a good package,” Sikorski said, noting that any such package would have to include a bilateral pact and improved air defenses. The U.S. has favored multilateral defense pacts in recent decades, although it maintains a few bilateral treaties, including with Japan and South Korea.
» More stories on: Allies
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Bush: U.S. Had “Reasonable Chance” of Intercepting North Korean Missile
President Bush said today that the U.S. military had “a reasonable chance” of shooting down North Korea’s Taep’o-dong 2 long-range ballistic missile on Wednesday, had the missile not failed during its test launch. Speaking before reporters in Chicago, the President added that “our anti-ballistic systems are modest, they are new.” If the North Korean missile had continued to what is now believed to have been its intended target, an area off the coast of Hawaii, the Pentagon might have targeted the Taep’o-dong with any number of 11 ground-based interceptor missiles currently deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
» More stories on: North Korea, Testing - Foreign
» Missile details: Tien Ma 1
» Missile system details for: Fort Greely, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI)
Missile Defense System Declared “Operational”
The U.S. ground-based interceptor missile defense system is now said to be operational, as North Korea prepares to test launch its Taep’o-dong 2 ballistic missile. The defensive system currently consists of 11 ground-based interceptor missiles, nine deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and two at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. In addition, two Navy Aegis warships are on patrol near North Korea and would be among the first sensors that could trigger the use of the ground-based interceptors. The ground-based interceptors appear to constitute the only defense against the North Korean missiles, which are capable of striking the continental U.S. If the Aegis ships in the Sea of Japan contain Standard Missile interceptors in addition to their radars and tracking sensors, this has not been publicly announced. It is not clear if the announcement is of permanent operational capability, or if it is rather keeping with previous announcements of limited and intermittent operational capability, on special alert given North Korea’s apparent missile fueling.
The GMD missile system was switched from test to operational mode within the past two weeks, according to various defense sources. The Washington Times cites a senior Bush administration official as stating that the White House is currently considering how to proceed if and when the Taep’o-dong 2 were to be launched. A decision to shoot down the missile would be made at the highest command levels, which includes the president, secretary of defense, and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stated that a North Korean launch would be a serious matter and “would be taken with utmost seriousness and indeed a provocative act.”
» More stories on: Deployment, North Korea, Policy
» Missile details: Tien Ma 1
» Missile system details for: Fort Greely, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Vandenberg Air Force Base
NYT on Plans for Europe Site
The Pentagon is expected to choose the location for a new European missile defense site this summer, reports The New York Times. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the nations under consideration. The plan calls for the installation of 10 interceptor missiles by 2011, which would be able to defend Europe or the U.S. against Iranian missile strikes. The Pentagon has asked Congress for $56 million to begin initial work on the European site, and the final cost, including the interceptors themselves, is estimated at $1.6 billion.
» More stories on: Allies
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
MDA Launches Target Missile to Test Beale Missile Radar
The Missile Defense Agency today successfully tested an upgraded early warning radar located at Beale Air Force Base, California, which forms a part of the missile defense system being developed. A long-range Strategic Targets System (STARS) rocket was launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and was successfully tracked by the Beale AFB radar during the exercise. Other news reports noted that the 35-foot long target missile was indeed launched, and its payload traveled 2,500 miles toward the California-Mexico border, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
An interceptor missile, such as the Ground Based Interceptors some of which are based at Vandenberg AFB, was not 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.”
» Video by Missile Defense Agency of February 23 test
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Kodiak Launch Complex
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