BMD Watch: MDA test fires KEI motor

WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- MDA Director Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering said Friday the agency had successfully carried out the testing of the first-stage rocket motor of its new Kinetic Energy Interceptor, or KEI, a high-speed, three-stage interceptor system designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles.

The Missile Defense Agency said in a statement that the static test firing was carried out at the Alliant Techsystems Inc. facility in Promontory, Utah. The test involved "the successful ignition of the rocket motor, a full-duration 'burn,' and demonstrated the performance of the motor assembly and thrust vector control nozzle for what will be a very high-acceleration, high-velocity and extremely maneuverable interceptor missile," the MDA said.

"This was the second of five planned first stage rocket motor ground tests," the agency said. "Following continued developmental tests of rocket motor stages and interceptor equipment, the Kinetic Energy Interceptor plans to conduct its first flight test in 2008," it said.

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the KEI program.

Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, said in a statement that the test was "the third in a series of static motor firings leading up to the program's first booster flight in 2008."

"Northrop Grumman is leading the industry team charged with developing and testing a KEI capability under contract to MDA. Raytheon Company is responsible for developing and integrating the KEI system's interceptor. The initial test results for the ignition and burn time matched expectations for motor performance and integrity," the ATK statement said.

"Having three highly successful test firings solidifies that we have a robust design leading to booster flight in 2008 and eventually providing our nation with the most advance missile defense capability." said Bill Condas, vice president, Strategic and Commercial Systems, ATK Launch Systems Group. "Our team's commitment to this technology and mission assurance will ensure success as we move forward through each milestone."

ATK said the KEI would be "deployable anywhere in the world using U.S. military aircraft."

The system was "being designed for easy transition to sea-based platforms," it said.

"As a member of the Raytheon interceptor team, ATK will produce all stages of propulsion for the integrated flight vehicle," the company said. "The KEI canister launch-eject gas generators will be produced by ATK in Rocket Center, W.Va."

Hunter backs Putin's Azeri ABM plan

A conservative candidate for the Republican presidential nomination has urged the Bush administration to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to monitor Iranian ballistic missile launches for ABM defense systems from a radar base in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement last week, "Mr. Putin's counter-proposal of employing sea-based missile defenses for the purpose of intercepting Iranian missiles is promising for several reasons, particularly if deployed in the Black Sea."

"First, the 'missile attack corridor' from Iran to targets in Europe and the United States lies directly over the Black Sea," Hunter said.

"Second, the Aegis missile interceptor program has enjoyed marked success, interdicting targets eight out of 10 times," the congressman said.

"The sea-borne portion of America's missile defenses may well turn out to be the best performer," he said. "Our warships can effectively picket adversaries' offensive systems, thus threatening to take down their missiles at an early stage. 'Early take-down' solves MIRV-ing and decoy challenges and can only have a demoralizing effect on the attacking nation. Any offensive missiles that make it through the early screen can then be handled by midcourse and terminal systems.

"The (U.S.) Navy's Aegis ship-based defensive systems could be based in existing Black Sea ports, either in Ukraine, Russia or Turkey," Hunter said.

"The United States should accept the Russian-proposed use of the Azeri radar station and the deployment of sea-based missile defenses and accordingly request Black Sea port privileges for the Aegis ships," he said. "We should offer to partner with Russia to further enhance our collective defenses by encouraging them to work with us to replicate similar missile defense capabilities planned for Poland and the Czech Republic in Russian locations, to the extent that prudent technology security allows. All interceptor sites could be jointly operated by American and Russian crews to defend against incoming missiles.

"Such a move has the potential to spark a 'defensive' race among nations with missile technology. This result is much preferable to the inevitable policies of 'Assured Destruction' that attends nuclear weapons development," he said.

Russia's Missile Forces bet on the RS-24

Russia is going to equip its Strategic Missile Forces with RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles armed with multiple independently targeted, or MIRV-ed, warheads, the three-star general commanding the force said last week.

"The new RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile was developed within a relatively short period of time. Within the next few years, it will replace old missile systems with multiple warheads that are being taken off combat duty according to schedule," Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov told reporters in Moscow June 12, according to a report carried by the Interfax-AVN news agency.

The news agency noted that the new missile was successfully test-fired on May 29.

The RS-24 missiles will replace the SMF's old RS-18 missiles -- NATO code name Stiletto -- and its RS-20 ICBMs -- NATO code name SS-18 Satan -- an SMF spokesman told the news agency.

Interfax-AVN noted that Stilettos can carry up to six MIRV-ed warheads and each Satan can carry up to 10 of them.