A HUGHES KINETIC kill vehicle failed to hit a simulated Scud target during an exo-atmospheric intercept test on 4 March off the coast of North Carolina.
Telemetry from the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) test shows that deviations from the expected interceptor missile flight path may have contributed to the failed intercept.
The target was launched from Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. The LEAP was fired successfully as the third stage of a Standard missile off a US Navy warship. All stages of flight were executed, including LEAP kill-vehicle deployment.
The LEAP project is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of hit-to-kill intercepts of theatre ballistic weapons using sea-based weaponry.
The LEAP interceptor would be carried by an advanced, extended-range version of the US Navy's Standard (SM-2) missile.
This would provide the US Navy with an organic ballisitic-missile defence capability.
Source: Flight International