Ground-Based Midcourse Defense Developments

Written by Erin Flynn Jay

MDA is planning a GMD test for this fall that will likely include the launch of a target missile from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean and the launch of an interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. “In mid-summer, we also plan to conduct a test from Vandenberg using the modified rocket motor system that would be used for the European siting. It is a two-stage version of the three-stage version currently deployed at Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg AFB,” Rick Lehner, with MDA Public Affairs, told MSMF.

MDA’s testing plan addresses critics of MDA’s fielding of GMD’s development and fielding process. Tests use a threat-representative target missile and an operationally configured interceptor missile. “Various ground and sea-based radars are used to detect, track and provide discrimination and targeting data to the interceptor through the command and control element,” said Lehner. “Military operators conduct the command, control, battle management and communication aspects of the test, and react just as they would during an actual defensive mission.”

Operators do not know exactly when the target will be launched; they know only that they are involved in a “period of interest.” Tests are as operationally realistic as MDA can make them within prescribed safety and environmental constraints.

MDA has no current plan to field the proposed European site. No work can be done in either Poland or the Czech Republic until both parliaments ratify agreements signed last year, Lehner said. If ratification occurs, site work could begin late this year or early in 2010, dependent on congressional funding.

There is interoperability of GMD systems with Aegis and other BMDS elements. GMD, Aegis and THAAD all have access to the same ground and sea-based radars and sensors, as well as the command, control, battle management and communication element deployed worldwide. For example, Lehner said a radar aboard an Aegis ship can provide target detection and tracking to a THAAD battery to cue (point) the THAAD radar to the proper area of the sky to ensure maximum effectiveness.

The GMD program consists of over 400 suppliers and partners in over 30 states. Norm Tew, vice president and program director of the GMD program for Boeing, said that because of their significant scope of work, major suppliers to the GMD program include the following:

• Orbital is a subcontractor to Boeing to design, develop and test GMD’s interceptor booster. The Orbital boost vehicle is a silo-launched, three-stage rocket designed to carry advanced hit-to-kill interceptors that locate and destroy longrange hostile missiles in the midcourse phase of flight. Orbital’s booster work is based in Chandler, Ariz.
• Raytheon Missile Systems is a subcontractor to Boeing to design, develop and test GMD’s Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). The EKV is launched into space aboard the three-stage Orbital booster. Once it separates from the booster, the EKV maneuvers into the path of a target and destroys it using the kinetic energy force of collision. Raytheon’s EKV work is performed in Tucson, Ariz. Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems division designs, develops and tests GMD’s sensor suite, including the Upgraded Early Warning Radar and XBR radars. Raytheon’s radar work is based in Woburn, Mass.
• Northrop Grumman is a subcontractor to Boeing to design, develop and test GMD’s fire control system and the command launch equipment. The fire control system correlates data from multiple radars and sensors and produces a weapons task plan for the interceptor to execute. The command launch equipment receives data from the fire control system and communicates with the interceptor. Northrop’s work is managed in Huntsville, Ala.
• Bechtel National is a subcontractor to Boeing to design, develop and construct the missile fields and install the missile silos. Bechtel’s work is managed in Huntsville and performed at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base.
   

“Under the direction of the MDA, the GMD system is a spiral development program, meaning as the system is developed and operationally fielded, upgrades to the system are concurrently tested and fielded to constantly improve the system’s capability,” said Tew.

Prior to being declared operational and added to the BMDS, additional components or updated capabilities to the current GMD configuration must undergo rigorous testing and validation. Testing takes place in a lab environment before moving out into the field.

The Boeing-led team recently completed a complex ground test, which confirmed the system’s ability to take on an upgraded fire control software update, additional groundbased interceptors as well as validated the Sea-Based X-band radar’s capability as a fulltime operational asset. In addition, Tew said MDA has scheduled another flight test later this year, which builds upon previous flight tests in complexity and execution.

MULTILAYERED APPROACH

The MDA has a multilayered approach to ballistic missile defense. “A layered defense system offers opportunities to destroy hostile missiles in all phases of flight, including boost, midcourse and terminal phases,” Tew said.

GMD is a vital component of the nation’s layered missile defense architecture and is the only element of the BMDS that is capable of defending the United States against the threat of long-range ballistic missiles. The GMD system is a network-enabled system linked by 20,000 miles of fiber-optic cable that crosses 12 time zones.

“Elements such as the Navy Aegis BMD ships are equipped with SPY-1 radar, which detects and tracks hostile ballistic missiles and then communicates the tracking data to the GMD fire control system,” said Tew. “The GMD fire control system takes that data, along with all other sensor data inputs, and creates a trajectory for the interceptor in order to engage and destroy the hostile threat.”

The GMD system can accept sensor inputs from multiple Aegis BMD ships, as well as other elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. Other sensor systems that provide surveillance and tracking data to GMD include the land-based mobile AN/ TPY-2 radars, Upgraded Early Warning radars, the Upgraded Cobra Dane radar, and the Sea-Based X-band radar, thereby providing the most accurate target trajectory for the interceptor.

In the most recent flight test of the GMD system in December, four different radar systems provided surveillance and tracking data to the GMD system for the first time in a live intercept flight test, resulting in a successful intercept. Tew said this was the most complex and comprehensive flight test to date. GMD uses multiple sensors, communications systems, fire control capabilities, and ground-based interceptors that are capable of detecting, tracking and destroying intermediate- and long-range ballistic missiles during the midcourse phase of flight.

The interceptor kill vehicle uses the kinetic energy from a direct hit on the incoming re-entry vehicle (RV) to destroy it. The EKV is a sensor-propulsion package that collides with the target at a closing speed of approximately 15,000 miles per hour. This “hit-to-kill” technology has been proven in a number of flight tests, including three tests using the operationally configured Ground- Based Interceptor (GBI).

RAYTHEON KILL VEHICLE

The Raytheon kill vehicle represents a critical piece of the GMD program. The EKV consists of an infrared seeker in a flight package used to detect and discriminate the re-entry vehicle from other objects. The “hit-to-kill” concept involves colliding with the incoming warhead, completely pulverizing it.

This collision ensures complete destruction of a warhead carrying weapons of mass destruction—nuclear, biological or chemical— and the means of delivery, such as mid-range and long-range ballistic missiles. Accidental or unauthorized attacks by nuclear-capable nations, or attacks by rogue nations or a terrorist group represent significant concerns.

In addition to having an infrared seeker, the EKV has its own propulsion, communication link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system, and computers to support target selection and intercept decisions in the final seconds, or end game, of its flight.

The continued development and testing of a potential “layered” system will result in an extensive review of terminal, midcourse and boost-intercept systems to determine the practicality of deploying the total system. The review will consider the capability, as well as the current and future ballistic missile threat.

The base requirement currently is landbased development. This system will consist of a Ground-Based Radar (GBR) along with a small number of GBIs, composed of kill vehicles integrated with booster rocket motors. Additionally, space-based early warning satellites, both in high-elliptical and lowelliptical orbit, and ground-based Upgraded Early Warning Radars (UEWRs) will detect hostile missile launches and provide guidance to ground stations.

A battle management, command, control and communication system will provide operational control and man-in-the-loop interface.

The Army’s GBI Project Management Office and GMD Joint Program Office in Huntsville are the cognizant military authorities for the Raytheon EKV as it is integrated with the government’s choice of booster. Ground-Based Midcourse Defense is composed of two main components: ground-based interceptors and ground systems. A GBI is made up of a three-stage, solid fuel booster and an exoatmospheric kill vehicle. When launched, the booster missile carries the kill vehicle toward the target’s predicted location in space.

Once released from the booster, the 230-pound EKV uses data received in-flight from groundbased radars and its own on-board sensors to close with and destroy the target warhead well outside Earth’s atmosphere using only the kinetic force of the direct collision to destroy the target warhead.

Ground systems are the backbone of the GMD element. It provides the interceptor launch facilities and connects all hardware, software and communications systems necessary for planning, directing and controlling the GMD. Interceptor missiles are currently emplaced at Fort Greely and Vandenberg Air Force Base.The Orbital Boost Vehicle is a three-stage solid motor rocket system being developed for the GBI boost vehicle. Orbital’s boost vehicle has been successful in all seven flight tests conducted between February 2003 and December 2008. The OBV design is based on Orbital’s successful lineage of small satellite launch vehicles—Pegasus, Taurus and Minotaur—offering advantages that make it the affordable, low-risk approach for the GBI boost vehicle:

• 20-plus years of boost vehicle experience

• 100 percent use of commercial rocket motors with proven track records

• Low costs associated with shared hardware

• Configuration is START Treaty-compliant

• Fully ISO-9001- and AS9100-compliant production processes

BUDGET ISSUES

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has decided to cap the deployment of the GMD system in Alaska and California at 30 groundbased interceptors and to focus on the further development and testing to improve the capability of the system. While the department has requested funding to buy all 44 interceptors as originally programmed, 14 of the interceptors will be marked for testing or for spares.

This move is part of a broader decision by the Obama administration to increase funding for theater missile defense at the expense of a national missile defense program. At press time, a group of six senators and other GMD proponents in the House of Representatives are attempting to have the FY10 defense budget more fully support the funding and deployment of GMD through amendments and other language.

In response to the administration’s course shift on missile defense and GMD, Boeing in mid July announced work force reductions in its GMD work force at sites around the nation. ♦

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