Lockheed Martin launched the unarmed missile target from a ground platform at the Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Preliminary analysis shows that the target met requirements for the test.
To support testing of the missile defense system, Lockheed Martin configured the 45-foot-long target to closely mirror the capabilities of ground-launched enemy missiles that can travel 3,000 to 5,500 kilometers (1,800 to 3,400 miles).
« Our team's experience in developing targets and conducting launch operations allows us to deliver threat-representative targets to support the Missile Defense Agency in testing and exercising deployed weapon systems,» said Jeff Kepley, Director of the Targets and Countermeasures Program, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.
For each LV-2 mission, Lockheed Martin assembles a target from standardized components to replicate a specific threat missile, without the time and expense of one-of-a-kind development.
This test marked the fifth LV-2 mission since 2010, bringing Lockheed Martin's overall reliability record to 46 successes out of 47 target missions since 1996. The company's unmatched 98-percent mission success rate includes short-, medium- and intermediate-range target missiles launched from ground, air and sea platforms.
