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December 4, 2008
IWG Report 2007
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Home :: Missile Defense Systems
Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
| Country: | USA |
|---|---|
| Basing: | Land |
| In Service: | 2004 |
Details
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, scheduled for deployment in September 2004, will be the United States’ first operational missile defense program capable of protecting all 50 states. GMD will detect and track long-range ballistic missiles in their boost phase, and destroy them during their midcourse phase, i.e. while the missiles are outside the atmosphere and at their highest trajectory. The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency is currently installing six interceptor missiles at Fort Greely in Alaska, and four at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Over 20 interceptors are scheduled for deployment over the next two years.
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 contract to Boeing. Subcontractors include Raytheon, TRW, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Bechtel, and Teledyne Brown Engineering. The project is currently undergoing extensive ground and flight tests.
Upon completion, GMD will consist of an complex array of synchronized components: Air Force Defense Support Program (DSP) satellites; Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) satellites; the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS); Upgraded Early Warning Radars (UEWRs); a Battle Management, Command, Control and Communications (BMC3) unit; the Sea-Based X-Band Radar (SBX); and Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missiles.
In a typical combat scenario, DSP and SBIRS-High satellites scan the horizon for hostile ballistic missile launches. Once a threat has been detected, the satellites estimate the missile’s flight path. The Space Tracking and Surveillance System monitors the threat as it makes its way across the globe, while Upgraded Early Warning Radars predict its final destination. This allows GMD to launch its interceptors as early as possible. The BMC3 unit on the ground integrates all surveillance and tracking information.
The interceptor missile itself, known as the Ground-Based Interceptor, is located in an underground silo. Once launched, the GBI streaks toward the target’s predicted location, receiving in-flight updates along the way. MDA is currently developing a Sea-Based X-Band Radar, scheduled for completion in 2005, to guide the GBI and allow it to differentiate between warheads and decoys. In the meantime, GMD will use existing radars located on the California coastline and the Alaskan Aleutian Islands.
At a predetermined point, the GBI releases its Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). The EKV is 55 inches long and weighs 140 pounds. It has its own infrared seeker, guidance system, and motor. As it closes in on its target, the EKV integrates data from the XBR with its on-board sensors and locks on to the enemy missile. The EKV continuously adjusts its flight path until it collides with the target (like a bullet hitting a bullet). The hit-to-kill impact causes complete destruction of the warhead, including any nuclear, chemical, or biological agents.
Since 1999, MDA has conducted seven GMD hit-to-kill tests. Five have been successful. The most recent test 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 at an altitude of 140 miles and a closing speed in excess of 15,000 miles per hour. Since then, MDA has also conducted two successful flight tests of the GBI boost vehicle. MDA plans to perform approximately seventeen 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.
Despite these recent successes, several prominent Democrats have criticized MDA’s decision to deploy interceptor missiles at Fort Greely and Vandenberg. During the Democratic primaries, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) voiced his complete opposition to the program. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) echoed his colleague, adding, “There is such a rush to deploy that I think it’s going to be an embarrassment to them—to the country—if we rush to judgment, rush to the commitment of resources.” Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), and Ret. Army Gen. Wesley Clark also expressed their concerns.
All the same, GMD has received enthusiastic support from the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress, and there are no foreseeable delays to its deployment. Over the next year, in fact, MDA will decide whether or not to build a third GMD interceptor site. Europe is a top choice for its location, since it would provide increased defense against missiles launched from the Middle East. MDA acknowledges that this potential third site could be either land-based or sea-based, and could be fielded as early as 2006.
Sources
The Boeing Company.
“Boeing-Led Missile Defense Team Scores Another ‘Hit’; Successful System Test Includes Intercept Over Pacific.” Boeing Press Release, 14 October 2002.
“Boeing Wins $1.6 Billion-Dollar Contract From DoD’s Joint Program Office To Act As Lead System Integrator for National Missile Defense Program.” Boeing Press Release, 30 April 1998.
“Boeing-Orbital Team Successfully Launches Booster Vehicle.” Boeing Press Release, 16 August 2003.
“Boeing Conducts Successful GMD Integrated Flight Test,” Boeing Press Release, 26 January 2004.
Breen, Tom. “Missile Defense Agency; Countdown To Historic Deployment.” Armed Forces Journal, 1 April 2004.
Federation of American Scientists, Description of GBI.
Federation of American Scientists, Description of XBR.
Globalsecurity.org.
Missile Defense Agency.
Raytheon Company.
Selinger, Marc. “GMD Successfully Conducts Flight Test With New Booster.” Aerospace Daily, 28 January 2004.
Selinger, Marc. “Sen. Kerry Opposes Upcoming Missile Defense Deployment.” Aerospace Daily, 21 January 2004.
Selinger, Marc. “Third Site For GMD Interceptors Could Be Picked In A Year.” Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, 28 April 2004.
Spring on Need for Congress to Advance “Limited” Funding
Baker Spring of the Heritage Foundation argues that U.S. missile defense is “very thin and needs to be strengthened.” The current, limited, defensive shield of eleven Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptors in Alaska and California and less than ten Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptors on Aegis warships are not enough to adequately defend against an attack from Iran or North Korea. Congress must make the following changes to its missile defense budget for FY 2007: (1) increase funding for the GMD system by $200 million to accelerate testing and deployment; (2) increase funding for the SM-3 by $100 million to support the deployment of 100 interceptors by 2011; (3) cut funding for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program by 50 percent; (4) reduce funding for miscellaneous BMD projects by $100 million and redirect the funds to near-term deployment; and (5) reallocate resources to new technologies previously banned by the ABM Treaty, such as space-based interceptors.
Congress, as it undertakes the task of drafting the fiscal year (FY) 2007 Defense Authorization bill, must recognize that this defense is very thin and needs to be strengthened. It can do so by making several significant changes in the missile defense budget, such as adding funds to accelerate the concurrent testing and operation program for the long-range missile defense interceptors in Alaska and California and to improve and expand the sea-based interceptors on the Navy’s AEGIS ships. Looking to the future, Congress should direct the Agency to start serious work on placing missile defense interceptors in space.
…The Bush Administration must finally break the missile defense program free from the enduring effects of the ABM Treaty. This means giving the missile defense interceptors already in the field and those soon to be fielded as much operational capability as possible. It also means moving missile defenses where they will be most effective, space. By adjusting missile defense funding for FY 2007 and making clear its intentions for future years, Congress can prod the Administration in this direction.
» More stories on: Analysis, Space-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Aegis Ship-Based BMD, Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Upcoming GMD Tests
MDA plans to conduct four tests of the ground-based missile defense system in 2006. The first will involve a target missile launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, which will be tracked by GMD radars. The second will be the first interceptor test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The third will be a “data-collection fly-by,” using a target missile from Kodiak and an interceptor from Vandenberg. The fourth will be a live intercept attempt, again using a target missile from Kodiak and an interceptor from Vandenberg. As of yet, no dates have been set for the four tests.
» More stories on: Policy
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Kodiak Launch Complex
GMD Interceptor Flight Test
Four years to the day after President Bush gave official notice to Russia that the United States would be withdrawing from the ABM Treaty, the MDA conducted a successful, “important” test of a Ground Based Interceptor. The interceptor was launched from the Ronald Reagan Test site, located in the Kwajalein atoll of the Marshall Islands, in Pacific Ocean. The interceptor traveled northeast, toward a location of a simulated target missile launch from Kodiak, Alaska. The data fed the interceptor about the location of the simulated target was based on previous launches.
The importance of the launch is several-fold, not the least of which is that it is the first launch of a GBI since October 2002. On the last two attempts at a launch (in December 2004 and February 2005), minor hardware or software glitches resulted in the missile shutting itself down, and therefore never leaving its silo. A “variety of components and subcomponents” were also tested. A Boeing press release called the event the “first flight test of an operationally configured interceptor.”
Today’s test was designed Flight Test-1 (FT-1), which would seem to indicate a new nomenclature, or numbering of flight tests. Integrated Flight Test-7, for example, took place in December 2001; the test attempt which had been planned for February 2005 had been designated IFT-14. A new nomenclature could be the product of the thorough reassessment said to have taken place in recent years about the program’s testing.
» December 13, 2001: Bush gives six month notice for U.S. intent to withdraw from ABM Treaty
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site (RTS)
Ninth Ground Based Interceptor Emplaced in Silo at Greely
On September 18, the seventh ground-based midcourse interceptor at Fort Greely, Alaska, was emplaced in its silo, reports Boeing. The interceptor is the ninth total interceptor to be put into a silo; an additional two are at Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California.
This emplacement is the first since November of 2004, when the sixth interceptor was put into a silo at Greely. Some ten interceptors were scheduled to be deployed in 2005, which when added to the existing eight would amount to eighteen in the ground
» More stories on: Deployment
» Missile system details for: Fort Greely, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
General Holly: System Could Stop North Korean Attack Today
Major General John Holly, who heads the ground based midcourse defense program for the Missile Defense Agency, commented in remarks to Alaska lawmakers today that the missile defense system deployed in Alaska and California could, if so directed, provide a limited defense against a limited attack from a country such as North Korea. “If directed, we could provide a limited defense against an attack out of Northeast Asia,” he said.
» More stories on: Deployment
» Missile system details for: Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Minor Software Glitch Responsible for Shutdown; Five Tests of System in 2005
The head of the Missile Defense Agency, Lt. General Henry Obering, yesterday explained that the December 15 failed attempt to test the ground based interceptor was due to a “very minor software glitch,” which can easily be remedied, according to Defense News. The glitch was said to be a “gap in the flow of electronic messages between the flight computer and the interceptor’s thrust vector controller.”
As to the actual, formal deployment of the Alaska-California based system, Obering largely repeated the remarks of Secretary Rumsfeld on December 22, that it may not be anytime soon, and that it may be made operational without “formal” announcement:
“I cannot tell you there is going to be a date certain when we will to declare anything. I can tell you we do have a capability that is out there. We continue in the process of improving it, and we continue in the process of exercising with it … and we will continue in that mode.”
Some five flight tests of the system are scheduled for 2005, including at least two attempted intercepts. Obering is also quoted as saying that the Pentagon may repeat the test, IFT-13c, as early as mid-February. The next test, IFT-14, is slated for March or April.
» Reuters on Obering explanation
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Interceptor May be Returned to U.S. for Testing
The ground based interceptor which did not launch in the December 15 attempt at a test of the missile defense system will likely be shipped back to the U.S. from the Kwajalein missile range, according to the January 3 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology, although no plans are yet in place to do so. After a target missile had been fired, the interceptor’s computer detected a fault which initiated an automatic shutdown.
The January 5 edition of the Aerospace Daily & Defense Report notes that the Missile Defense agency is near to determining the problem described thus far only as an “unknown anomaly.” MDA spokesman Rick Lehner was quoted as saying that “we expect to have some information within the next week or two.”
Update: The January 17 edition of Aviation Week and Space Technology reports that the interceptor will be fixed at Kwajalein, thereby eliminating the need to return it to the U.S
» More stories on: Testing - American
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Interceptor Installed at Vandenberg
On December 10, a 55-foot long Ground Based Interceptor was lowered into an underground silo at Vandenberg Air Force, in California, the first of two to be deployed at VAFB this year. The installation is the first in the continental United States—six are already emplaced at Fort Greely, in Alaska.
» Dec. 12: Lompoc Record: Karako on missile defense
» MDA press release on VAFB installation
» More stories on: Deployment, Land-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Vandenberg Air Force Base
Sixth Interceptor in Place: First Phase of Deployment Complete
A sixth ballistic missile interceptor was yesterday installed in its silo at Fort Greely, Alaska. The interceptor is the last of those to be installed in 2004. An additional eight to ten will be emplaced in 2005, for a total of 14-16. Two interceptors are still due to be installed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California this year. The limited ground based midcourse defense system has yet to be declared operational, but such an announcement is expected before the end of the year.
» MDA press release on installation of 6th interceptor
» More stories on: Deployment, Land-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Fort Greely, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD)
Garwin on Missile Defense
Richard Garwin writes in the November edition of the Scientific American on the need for missile defense efforts to be properly directed. He makes a number of good points about the ballistic missile threat, but his opposition to the means by which to meet that threat leaves questions unanswered. First, a summary of his main points:
» Archive of Garwin writings at FAS
» More stories on: Analysis, Policy, Space-Based Systems
» Missile system details for: Brilliant Pebbles, Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI), Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD), Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI)
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