ST. LOUIS, May 10 (UPI) -- Boeing has successfully tested modified underground silo and launch system components for the Ground-based Midcourse interceptor.
The tests have cleared the way for the silo to participate in a system flight test this summer, Boeing said in an announcement Wednesday.
The tests validated several silo modifications, including operation of the lateral support group -- the three "arms" that stabilize the interceptor inside the silo -- and the opening of the silo closure mechanism, or clamshell doors, Boeing said. The tests are part of a rigorous ground test protocol to ensure mission readiness before the actual Ground-based Midcourse Defense, or GMD anti-ballistic missile interceptor flight test.
"This ground test milestone demonstrates reliability and repeatability of a 'test-as-you-fly' integrated system," said Scott Fancher, Boeing GMD vice president and program director. "The incremental and deliberate testing of each component as it is integrated into the system will ensure success when the system is called on to perform."
A series of six live-fire tests that trigger the synchronized launch sequence release of the lateral support group arms and the rapid opening of the clamshell doors was first conducted on the test silo in Huntsville, Ala., and then verified on a silo at the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Boeing said.
