Raytheon Company’s upgraded Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle played a mission-critical role in a non-intercept flight test of Boeing’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense program. The EKV is a vital component of the GMD’s Ground-Based Interceptor.
The EKV allows the GBI to lock on and eliminate high-speed ballistic missile warheads in space using nothing more than the force of impact.
“Rigorous non-intercept flight tests are important in proving the effectiveness and operational capability of ballistic missile defense weapons and their various components,” said Wes Kremer, Raytheon Missile Systems’ vice president of Air and Missile Defense Systems. “Today’s test allowed us to challenge the EKV in a series of realistic outer-space environments, which gives us a broad range of data prior to moving toward an intercept scenario.”
During the test, the EKV performed as planned, maneuvering the interceptor to the appropriate altitude and closing velocity required for an intercept.
“The sole purpose of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program is to defend the homeland from the threat of ballistic missile attack,” said Kremer. “This test moves us one step closer to an intercept flight test in 2013.”
Leveraging more than two decades of kill vehicle technology expertise, the EKV is designed to destroy incoming ballistic missile threats by colliding with them, a concept often described as “hit to kill.”
- The EKV has an advanced multi-color sensor used to detect and discriminate incoming warheads from other objects.
- The EKV also has its own propulsion, communications link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system, and computers to support target selection and intercept.
- Deployed and operational today, the EKV has had eight successful intercepts throughout the life of the program.
Raytheon Company, with 2012 sales of $24 billion and 68,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass.
