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In a “critical milestone” for the program to provide a missile defense umbrella over the U.S. homeland, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency reported the first successful interception and destruction in flight of a target with ICBM characteristics.
A ground-based interceptor launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California collided with and destroyed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-class projectile that had been launched from at atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,500 miles away, the MDA reported.
The projectile launched from the Ronald Reagan Missile Test Site on Kwajalein atoll was “acquired” and tracked by multiple sensors including seaborne X-band radar in the Pacific Ocean, the MDA explained.
Target-tracking data was relayed to the GMD system which responded by launching the interceptor from Vandenberg. Its exo-atmospheric “kill vehicle” then intercepted and destroyed the target projectile in a “direct collision.”
According to manufacturer Raytheon, the kill vehicle sits atop the missile and, once outside the Earth’s atmosphere, uses sensors, a sophisticated onboard computer and a rocket motor to pinpoint and home in on the target, which it then destroys by means of a massive collision.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ss-icbm-class-missile-target-destroyed-flight
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Star Wars is back, baby
A ground-based interceptor launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California collided with and destroyed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-class projectile that had been launched from at atoll in the Marshall Islands, more than 4,500 miles away, the MDA reported.
The projectile launched from the Ronald Reagan Missile Test Site on Kwajalein atoll was “acquired” and tracked by multiple sensors including seaborne X-band radar in the Pacific Ocean, the MDA explained.
Target-tracking data was relayed to the GMD system which responded by launching the interceptor from Vandenberg. Its exo-atmospheric “kill vehicle” then intercepted and destroyed the target projectile in a “direct collision.”
According to manufacturer Raytheon, the kill vehicle sits atop the missile and, once outside the Earth’s atmosphere, uses sensors, a sophisticated onboard computer and a rocket motor to pinpoint and home in on the target, which it then destroys by means of a massive collision.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article...ss-icbm-class-missile-target-destroyed-flight
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Star Wars is back, baby
