Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) /
Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle
(EKV)
Hughes Missile Systems Company (HMSC) is currently under contract to
deliver a sensor for flight test in fiscal year 1997 as well as
a complete Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) and sensor for flight
test in FY98 fiscal year 1998.
The EKV represents the centerpiece for the Ground Based
Interceptor (GBI) which represents the key element in a
National Missile Defense (NMD) which consists of five elements: the
GBI; the Ground Based Radar (GBR); Upgraded Early Warning Radars
(UEWRS); Battle Management Command, Control and Communication (BMC3);
the Space and Missile Tracking System (SMTS); and other forward based
X-band radars. Less SMTS, all elements are being matured at a pace to
support an integrated system test in fiscal year 1999. In the case for SMTS, a
Flight Demonstration system Satellite (FDS) will act as a surrogate to
support the integrated test.
The GBI project is structured as a deployment readiness
program, which consists of three years to develop and test the GBI
elements, then a decision will be made based on the existing or
projected threat to deploy a treaty-compliant National Missile Defense
(NMD) system within three years.
In the case that a decision to deploy is not made, the GBI
project will continue to develop the required EKV so that a capable
missile defense system could be deployed if and when required.
Specifically, an EKV will be developed and flight-tested for the NMD
interceptor system which can accomplish intercepts of high-speed,
long-range Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and Submarine
Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) reentry vehicles (RVs) in the
midcourse of their trajectories. Since exoatmospheric intercept is
the key to an effective NMD system, an interceptor will be developed,
capable of acquiring a threat cluster from information supplied by
mid-course sensors, selecting the RV, and destroying it by force of
kinetic impact. The interceptor must be capable of combining NMD
sensor information with the scene its on-board seeker observes and
selecting the lethal object for its target. If insufficient
information is available from the total NMD system, the interceptor
must also be able to determine automomously the lethal object via on-board
discrimination and target selection.
To preserve a near-term deployment capability, the initial
focus of GBI development will be the front end of the missile, the
EKV. Near-term resources will be concentrated on the EKV, the most
critical and most technically challenging part of the interceptor. In
the interim, sensor and EKV flight tests will be consummated on-board
the Payload Launch Vehicle (PLV), a booster made up of the Minuteman
II second and third stages.
The time-line for technology infusion is post fiscal year 1997, contingent
on the results of EKV testing. GBI test plans include cold chamber
measurements, simulations, Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) and flight
testing.
The EKV sensor flight tests in fiscal year 1997 will mitigate EKV risk by
demonstrating two things which cannot be duplicated on the ground,
seeker operation in the tactical environment and target selection
algorithm performance against realistic targets. The EKV intercept
flights in FY98 will incrementally demonstrate NMD system capability,
beginning with a limited BMC3 operating on-line. By the year
2000, flight tests will demonstrate NMD interoperability between the
EKV, in-line BMC3, NMD Radar Technology Demonstrator (RTD) and on-line
medium wavelength infrared (MWIR) SMTS. Flight testing will prove the
GBI's ability to intercept representative targets under real
engagement conditions, reliably and repeatedly. The interceptor must
also be able to determine the lethal object through on-board
discrimination and target selection.
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