Continuing its efforts to maintain the United States’ technology superiority in missile defense, a Boeing-led industry team has successfully tested improvements to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.
Working with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Boeing and its partners validated system components, increasing their ability to engage and destroy ballistic missile threats.
A GMD Interceptor launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, performed an intentional fly-by of a target representing an advanced long-range ballistic missile. The test objective precluded an intercept in order to collect engineering data that’s not possible in an intercept test.
Northrop Grumman Corporation's enhanced battle management capabilities successfully performed in the flight test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.
As the strategic partner of The Boeing Company for the GMD program, Northrop Grumman is responsible for the critical fire control system that coordinates sensor information and orchestrates GMD elements for target engagement.
“Our system determines which threat to engage, builds the threat picture, allocates resources and provides and updates the information guiding the kill vehicle. Today's test demonstrates our team's commitment to continuously improve this vital capability for protecting the United States,” said Dan Verwiel, Vice President and General Manager, Missile Defense and Protective Systems division, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.
With interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, and Fort Greely, Alaska, GMD is an integral element of the United States' layered ballistic missile defense architecture. The program consists of command-and-control facilities, communications terminal and a 20,000-mile fiber-optic communications network that links with ballistic missile defense radars and other sensors. Boeing is the GMD system developer and has been prime contractor since 2001.
Northrop Grumman designs and deploys the fire control capability for GMD, which includes the fire control system, in-flight interceptor communications system data terminal, communications network equipment and system managers, and command launch equipment. The company also performs a significant role in GMD systems engineering, missile silo refurbishment and operations and sustainment of the deployed system. All are under contract to Boeing, the GMD prime contractor.
