Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
A prototype hit-to-kill weapon for protecting the USA against ballistic missile attack was successfully tested on 2 October. Four further flight tests are scheduled before US President Bill Clinton decides in the middle of next year whether to field a national anti-ballistic missile system by 2005 at an estimated cost of $11 billion.
A launch vehicle, equipped with an exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV), was fired from the Kwajalein Island Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean shortly after a modified Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile target vehicle, with a mock re-entry vehicle and decoy, lifted off from Vandenberg AFB, California.
The Raytheon-made EKV demonstrated that hit-to-kill technology can work at the speeds and ranges of intercontinental ballistic missiles. Weighing about 55kg (120lb), the EKV has two infrared sensors, a visible sensor and a small propulsion system.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the National Missile Defense (NMD) project, with support from Raytheon, TRW and Lockheed Martin. The expendable launch vehicle will be assembled by Boeing using commercially available rocket motors and boosters from Alliant Techsystems and United Technologies Chemical Systems.
The US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization twice postponed the initial flight test, citing the need for more preparation. A deployment readiness review is planned for next June.
The NMD would be deployed in either North Dakota or Alaska. Deployment in North Dakota would be within the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, but would not provide the desired coverage. Deploying the NMD interceptors in Alaska would protect the entire USA, but would require renegotiation of the ABM treaty.
Source: Flight International