New Stage 3 motor for SM-3 missile tested

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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., April 26 (UPI) -- A successful test run for a new rocket motor for the U.S. missile defense system was carried out recently in California's high desert.

The design verification test on the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block 1A third-stage motor was carried out Monday in a vacuum chamber at Edwards Air Force Base by Raytheon and Alliant Techsystems.

The chamber is designed to simulate the space environment the SM-3 would encounter if launched on an intercept mission against an incoming nuclear missile.

During the test at Edwards, an extended delay between the end of the motor's first pulse and the initiation of the second pulse was demonstrated successfully. The motor's first pulse puts the third stage on an intercept trajectory while the second makes any necessary last-minute course correction.

"This was an important ground test to prove out and qualify our design enhancement to this important SM-3 capability," said Raytheon Vice President Ed Miyashiro.

The third stage of the SM-3 has the critical task of ending the missile's Mk142 kinetic warhead on its way to the target missile. Deliveries and flight testing of the Block 1A begin this summer.

The SM-3 is launched from Aegis destroyers and cruisers as a theatre defense against medium and long-range missiles.

The upgrade was described by Raytheon Wednesday as a minor tweaking of the Block 1 motor in which obsolete parts were replaced and support and production aspects were upgraded.

During the test at Edwards, an extended delay between the end of the motor's first pulse and the initiation of the second pulse was demonstrated successfully. The motor's first pulse puts the third stage on an intercept trajectory while the second makes any necessary last-minute course correction.