WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency Friday announced a successful intercept test Friday of its Ground-based Midcourse Defense Interceptor to defend the United States from the threat of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"The interceptor was launched from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. For this exercise, a threat representative target missile was launched from Kodiak, Alaska," the MDA said.
The Boeing Co. said that the test "began at 4:01 p.m. Eastern (Time). ... Seventeen minutes later, military operators launched an interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. As the interceptor flew toward the target, it received target data updates from the upgraded missile-warning radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif. After flying into space, the interceptor released its exoatmospheric kill vehicle, which proceeded to track, intercept and destroy the target warhead."
"The test, GMD's seventh intercept overall, was the second intercept with an operationally configured interceptor since September 2006. Today's successful test is the team's second intercept in less than 13 months and further demonstrates GMD's evolution to a robust and reliable capability for the war fighter," said Pat Shanahan, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "Team members are energized and focused as they continue to see the pivotal role they play in developing and deploying a missile defense system that protects the United States."
"With another intercept under our belts, we have even greater confidence that the GMD system, if called upon in a real-world scenario, will defend the nation against a limited ballistic missile attack," said Scott Fancher, Boeing vice president and program director for GMD.
Boeing said the test was "highly complex, involving a wide range of assets, including the Sea-Based X-Band Radar SBX, a powerful new sea-based sensor developed by Boeing, tracked the target missile to prepare for the next GMD flight test, which will see SBX provide target updates to an in-flight interceptor for the first time."
"Flight tests are complex; they involve about 1,000 government and contractor personnel and integrate over 50 assets worldwide," said Norm Tew, Boeing director of weapon systems integration for GMD. "Our government and industry partners worked together as one team to make this exercise a successful reality."
Boeing is the prime contractor for GMD, the central element of the Missile Defense Agency's overall layered ballistic missile defense architecture. The company said its industry partners in the program "include Raytheon, Orbital Sciences Corp., and Northrop Grumman."
The EDO Corp. has won a $55 million order "for evaluation and assessment support of the Ballistic Missile Defense System."
"The work has a specified period of performance from October 2007 through December 2011," the company said in a statement.
“EDO’s Professional and Engineering Services Sector has been supporting this program for more than 10 years,” said James M. Smith, EDO’s chief executive officer. “This competitive win will nearly double our current level of support to the BMDS Operational Test Agency Team."
"This multi-service team is responsible for providing an independent, operational assessment of the BMDS to defend the United States, its deployed forces, friends and allies against ballistic missiles of all ranges and in all phases of flight,” Smith said.
EDO said that the company, with its subcontractors, would "provide various professional services to the Army Evaluation Center, including performance analysis, test planning and execution, modeling and simulation, and data management."
"The primary support locations will be in Huntsville, Ala., Colorado Springs, Colo., and Aberdeen, Md., as well as extensive worldwide deployment requirements," the company said.
Lockheed Martin said Tuesday it had handed over an AN/TPS-59(V)3B ballistic missile defense radar system to Bahrain.
"The radar proceeded smoothly through a site acceptance test in August and now is being used by the Bahrain Defense Force for air surveillance," the company said.
"In May 2004, the U.S. Marine Corps awarded Lockheed Martin a $43.6 million contract to provide the long-range radar system to Bahrain, along with associated supplies, equipment and services, as a foreign military sale -- FMS. Earlier in 2007, members of the Bahrain Defense Force were trained how to operate and maintain the system at Lockheed Martin's Radar Systems facility in Syracuse, New York, where the radar was built and tested," the company said.
"With the successful delivery of the AN/TPS-59(V)3B, the Kingdom of Bahrain has added a vital asset to its existing command and control and missile defense systems," said Ray Dean, AN/TPS-59 Bahrain project officer for the Marine Corps.
"Thanks to its strategic location and its status as headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, Bahrain needs superior in-country defense systems," said Rep. Jim Walsh, R-N.Y.
Lockheed Martin said that the AN/TPS-59(V)3 was "the only 360-degree coverage mobile radar in the world certified to detect tactical ballistic missiles. It can precisely predict missile launch and impact points, and cue defensive weapons against incoming threats. The radar can detect both single and multiple targets, and detect and track small air breathing targets such as aircraft. It is designed to operate with weapons systems such as the Patriot and Aegis missile defense systems."
"The all-solid state AN/TPS-59(V)3 can be integrated with other sensors for improved launch and impact point prediction, extended range capabilities, cooperative engagement and joint tactical information distribution," Lockheed Martin said. "The radar's 740-kilometer -- more than 400-mile -- range exceeds the range of 90 percent of the tactical ballistic missiles in the world today, and its mobility allows it to be forward-based to further extend the range of the system," it said.
