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Missile Defense Boost-Phase Contract Awarded
Department of Defense ^ | Dec 3, 2003 | DoD

Posted on 12/03/2003 8:21:29 PM PST by Spruce

Missile Defense Boost-Phase Contract Awarded

The Department of Defense announced today that the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. for the development and testing of a concept for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) program designed to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile in its boost/early ascent phase, which is the period of flight lasting from three to five minutes after a ballistic missile is launched. The contract awarded today is approximately $4.5 billion over the next eight years. This is the MDA’s first capability-based development and test contract, and it features a design that is no longer constrained by the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, from which the United States formally withdrew in June 2002.

This award follows an eight-month concept definition effort by two teams led by Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Each of the teams received $10 million to design a KEI concept. The objective of the contract award announced today is to develop and test a land-based interceptor for use in a “layered” ballistic missile defense system, possibly in 2010-2012. While the initial interceptor would be land-based, the KEI concept will quickly evolve to sea-basing for better proximity to some threat areas. There are significant technical and operational challenges to be solved in successfully developing a boost phase intercept capability. This contract is structured to handle all of them. A single interceptor design is compatible with both land and sea-basing

The intercept of a missile in its boost phase has numerous benefits: The boosting missile, still under power from its rocket motor(s), is vulnerable due to its slower speed, large cross-section and still-attached fuel tanks. Also, if a missile is successfully attacked during the boost phase, it can be destroyed prior to release of any decoys and/or countermeasures. Finally, in the event of a successful intercept, the missile and its payload of weapons of mass destruction—nuclear, chemical or biological—may fall back on the country from which it was launched.

The KEI program complements other missile defense programs now in development and testing, and is an important element in the United States’ approach to a layered missile defense system. This means that the objective is to develop and deploy missile defenses that can successfully intercept and destroy ballistic missiles in the boost phase, the midcourse phase (unpowered flight of a warhead high in space lasting up to 20 minutes), and the terminal phase, which is the final 30 seconds or less when the warhead is falling back to earth towards its target, powered only by gravity.

The United States is developing, testing and preparing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) to defend the United States against long-range ballistic missile attack beginning in 2004. Beginning in 2005, the Aegis Ballistic Missile (Sea-based Midcourse) Defense is planned to begin defensive operations for use against short to medium range ballistic missiles. The Army currently operates the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 element, which is a highly effective system for terminal phase intercept against short-range ballistic missiles and cruise missiles.

News media point of contact is Rick Lehner, Missile Defense Agency, at (703) 697-8997


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: boostphase; defense; miltech; missile; missiledefense; techindex

1 posted on 12/03/2003 8:21:30 PM PST by Spruce
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To: Spruce; *tech_index
Good stuff, thanks for posting this!
2 posted on 12/03/2003 8:45:29 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (Davis is now out of Arnoold's Office , Bout Time!!!!)
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To: Spruce
Bumping and bookmarking.
3 posted on 12/03/2003 10:15:58 PM PST by TruthNtegrity (God bless America, God bless President George W. Bush and God bless our Military!)
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To: Spruce
Brilliant Pebbles would have been opperational by now, more effective and a whole lot cheaper - except x42 line item vetoed it out of existance back in 1994. (sigh)
4 posted on 12/03/2003 10:34:06 PM PST by anymouse
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To: Spruce
Oh, and it would have given us cheap manned space access (Delta Clipper) as a bonus.

I recommend reading Danial Graham, Jr.'s novel "The Gatekeepers", April 1996 (ISBN: 067187716X - Published by Baen Books) to get an idea of what could have been. Although it is fiction, he does know of what he writes - his dad, Gen. Danial Graham, Sr. helped sell President Reagan both the Space-based Defense Initiative (Star Wars for the liberals) and the Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) Reuseable Launch Vehicle (RLV) to make it possible.

5 posted on 12/03/2003 10:48:38 PM PST by anymouse
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To: anymouse
Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking for something to suggest to a friend to buy me for Christmas - this will do.

FReepmail on job situation? I have news on that front, too.
6 posted on 12/05/2003 11:32:27 AM PST by TruthNtegrity (God bless America, God bless President George W. Bush and God bless our Military!)
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