GMD Interceptor Launch in Jan 26 Test The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Interceptor missile of the U.S Ballistic Missile Defens...
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| GMD Interceptor Launch in Jan 26 Test |
The Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Interceptor missile of the U.S Ballistic Missile Defense System failed to intercept a long range ballistic missile target launched from the U.S. Army's Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The interceptor missile was launched from Vandenberg AFB, California.
This was an operational test of the first-generation Capability Enhancement I (CE-I) Exo atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV), currently deployed in Alaska and California, and involved soldiers, sailors and airmen operating the system and providing test support. The testing record is at eight intercepts out of 14 intercept attempts.
The intergrated exercise was carried out by Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, Joint Functional Component Command, Integrated Missile Defense (JFCC IMD) and U.S. Northern Command. Program officials will conduct an extensive review to determine the cause or causes of any anomalies which may have prevented the successful intercept.
GMD flight testing was halted in early 2011 after a guidance error resulted in a failed intercept in a December 2010 test. The testing restarted with a successful intercept On Jan. 26, 2013.
The Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missile is the weapon component of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, and consists of a multi-stage rocket booster (BV - Boost Vehicle) and a kinetic kill vehicle (EKV - Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle) for exoatmospheric interception of ballistic missile warheads. The GMD system, was originally known as the National Missile Defense (NMD) program. The GMD System is the first and only operationally deployed missile defense program to defend the US homeland against long-range ballistic missile attacks. The system provides early detection and tracking during the boost phase, midcourse target discrimination, precision intercept and destruction of inbound ICBMs through force of hit-to-kill technology.
