Launch Alert
7:52 PM
The following are news releases about today's missile defense test and launches from Vandenberg AFB
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Homeland Missile Defense System Successfully Intercepts ICBM Target
Missile Defense Agency News Release
Fort Belvoir, VA
March 25, 2019The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, U.S. Northern Command, and elements of the U.S. Air Force Space Command’s 30th, 50th, and 460th Space Wings, conducted a successful test today against an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) class target. This test was the first salvo engagement of a threat-representative ICBM target by two Ground Based Interceptors (GBI), which were designated GBI-Lead, and GBI-Trail for the test. The GBI-Lead destroyed the reentry vehicle, as it was designed to do. The GBI-Trail then looked at the resulting debris and remaining objects, and, not finding any other reentry vehicles, selected the next ‘most lethal object’ it could identify, and struck that, precisely as it was designed to do.
The threat-representative ICBM target was launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, over 4,000 miles away from the two GBI interceptors, which were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
During the test, space, ground and sea-based BMDS sensors provided real-time target acquisition and tracking data to the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication (C2BMC) system. The two GBIs were then launched and the Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicles successfully engaged the target complex, resulting in an intercept of the target.
Initial indications show the test met requirements. Program officials will continue to evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test.
“This was the first GBI salvo intercept of a complex, threat-representative ICBM target, and it was a critical milestone,” said MDA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves. “The system worked exactly as it was designed to do, and the results of this test provide evidence of the practicable use of the salvo doctrine within missile defense. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system is vitally important to the defense of our homeland, and this test demonstrates that we have a capable, credible deterrent against a very real threat.”
The GMD element of the ballistic missile defense system provides combatant commanders the capability to engage and destroy intermediate and long-range ballistic missile threats to protect the U.S. The mission of the Missile Defense Agency is to develop and deploy a layered ballistic missile defense system to defend the United States, its deployed forces, allies and friends from limited ballistic missile attacks of all ranges in all phases of flight.
Additional information about all elements of the ballistic missile defense system can be found at
www.mda.mil.
Additional information and test imagery is available at
www.mda.mil: Imagery
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News Release Issued: Mar 25, 2019 (7:45pm EDT)To view this release online and get more information about Boeing, visit:
https://boeing.mediaroom.com/2019-03-25-U-S-MDA-and-Boeing-Complete-Historic-Missile-Defense-TestU.S. MDA and Boeing Complete Historic Missile Defense Test
Two interceptors on one target validate GMD system improvements
HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Mar. 25, 2019 — Today the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Boeing [NYSE:BA] for the first time launched two Ground-based Midcourse Defense system interceptors to destroy a threat-representative target, validating the fielded system protects the United States from intercontinental ballistic missiles.
In the test, one interceptor struck the target in space. The second interceptor observed that intercept before destroying additional debris to ensure missile destruction. The test is known as a “two-shot salvo” engagement. The target launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean while the interceptors launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
“The data collected from this test will enhance missile defense for years to come and solidify confidence in the system,” said Paul Smith, Boeing vice president and program director, Ground-based Midcourse Defense. “We continue to increase the system’s reliability as the U.S. government plans to expand the number of interceptors protecting the country.”
GMD interceptors are located at Vandenberg Air Force Base and Alaska’s Fort Greely. The system is an integral part of America’s layered ballistic missile defense architecture. Boeing has been the GMD prime contractor since 2001.
For more information on Defense, Space & Security, visit
www.boeing.com. Follow us on Twitter: @BoeingDefense and @BoeingSpace.
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News Release Issued: Mar 25, 2019 (8:35pm EDT)Raytheon kill vehicle hits ICBM target in first dual-salvo test
Double launch reflects real-world scenario
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., March 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in partnership with the Boeing-led industry team, tested two Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicles (EKV), which destroyed a threat representative intercontinental ballistic missile during a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense System, or GMD. One EKV intercepted the target and the other gathered test data in what is known as a "two-shot salvo" engagement.
The EKV system protects the U.S. against long-range ballistic missile attacks by destroying incoming threats safely outside the Earth's atmosphere. The historic test mirrored a real-life scenario where launching more than one interceptor ensured destruction of the threat far away from population centers. If the first kill vehicle makes impact, the second can divert to other material.
"The system is among the most complex, and serves as the first line of ballistic missile defense for the United States," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president.
After receiving tracking and targeting data from Raytheon's Sea-Based X-band radar and AN/TPY-2 radar, the EKV identified the threat, discriminated between the target and countermeasures, maneuvered into the target's path and destroyed it using "hit-to-kill" technology. Both radars play critical roles in supporting the GMD system.
It was the eleventh intercept for the GMD program overall, and the second intercept of an ICBM. The Raytheon kill vehicle family has a combined record of over 40 successful space intercepts.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2018 sales of $27 billion and 67,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 97 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and services, sensing, effects and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
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