Raytheon Key Team Member on Successful Missile Defense System Test

A Raytheon Company Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) was a key element in the latest successful flight test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system conducted Dec. 13 over the central Pacific Ocean.

This test, designated Flight Test-1, demonstrated the system’s capability to launch a ground-based interceptor, EKV separation and delivery of the EKV to the desired point in space and time. No target was launched although the test was conducted as if there were a target. The interceptor was launched from the U.S. Army’s Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“This successful test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system and EKV is a major accomplishment,” said Louise Francesconi, Raytheon Missile Systems president. “Success today is a confirmation of our commitment to mission assurance and is a prelude to continued success in upcoming tests.”

The test was designed to show the successful operation of the Raytheon EKV, developed and manufactured at the company’s Missile Systems business in Tucson, with an Orbital Sciences Corp. booster. The EKV separated from the booster as planned, conducted in-flight sensor calibration, conducted a star- shot to determine its own position to very precise accuracy, communicated with In-Flight Interceptor Communication System Data Terminal, and exercised its divert engines. When no target was located, the EKV performed a “step-stare” maneuver to enlarge its search area.

Raytheon is a major subcontractor to The Boeing Company on the GMD program, providing the EKV, UEWRs (Upgraded Early Warning Radars), and the SBX (Sea-Based X-band radar).

Raytheon Company, with 2004 sales of $20.2 billion, is an industry leader in defense and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people worldwide.

Notes to Editors:

(1) Raytheon’s hit-to-kill successes with the GMD program occurred on Oct. 2, 1999; July 13 and Dec. 3, 2001; and March 15 and Oct. 14, 2002; and with the sea-based STANDARD Missile-3, part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program, on Jan. 25, June 13 and Nov. 21, 2002, Dec. 11, 2003, and Feb. 24 and Nov. 17, 2005.

(2) The EKV has its own infrared seeker, propulsion, communications, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system, and computers to support target selection and intercept decisions in the end game of the intercept mission. The EKV is the intercept component of the Ground Based Interceptor (GBI), the weapon element of the GMD system. As part of the payload, Raytheon also builds and delivers the booster adaptor, which provides a common EKV interface for both the Orbital and Lockheed boosters. The adaptor provides EKV with power, communication and environmental protection prior to eject. Raytheon is producing payload assemblies in its world-class Kinetic Kill Vehicle manufacturing facility.