WASHINGTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Boeing said Jan. 7 it had replied to a MDA request for industry feedback on the follow-on GMD program.
Boeing said in a statement it had sent its reply to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's request for information, on the current status of the Ground-based Mid-course Defense, or GMD, program. "RFI responses will help MDA determine its strategy for the follow-on effort to the current GMD contract
," the company said.
"Increasingly complex ground and flight tests over the past two years have demonstrated the GMD system's capability and reliability. Drawing on its global systems engineering experience and success, Boeing has led the GMD industry team, which includes Orbital Sciences Corp., Raytheon Company
, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Bechtel National Inc. and Teledyne Brown Engineering
, from program inception to operations. The Boeing GMD team's unmatched readiness positions it well to continue building on that progress," the company said.
"The Missile Defense Agency rated Boeing's work as exceptional during the company's annual performance evaluation on GMD system development and maintenance," the statement said.
"The GMD team includes partners Orbital, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Bechtel and Teledyne Brown, and each partner brings important elements to the system. However, GMD's successful performance is not measured by its individual pieces, but rather by how it functions as an integrated system -- which would not be achieved without MDA's vision and Boeing's extensive integration capabilities and leadership," said Scott Fancher, vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.
"Continuing to leverage this proven industry team will guarantee a robust capability our nation can rely on to defend itself against long-range ballistic missiles. We are proud of our continuing role in providing an increasingly robust ballistic missile defense to our war fighters, and we look forward to the opportunity to continue leading this vital component of our nation's defense
," Fancher said.
Boeing noted that the GMD program remained the United States' "only defense against long-range ballistic missiles, with interceptors deployed in underground silos at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
, and Ft. Greely, Alaska."
India plans Agni III test, new ABM super-interceptors
India said it last week it would be ready to test-launch its new Agni-III intercontinental ballistic missile next year.
The long-awaited Agni-III would be a strategic equalizer for India with China. Its projected 3,000-mile range would put almost all the major cities of China within range.
The Press Trust of India reported Jan. 7 that, V. K. Saraswat
, chief controller of research and development for India's Defense Research and Development Organization, told reporters attending the 95th Indian Science Congress, "We are looking for (a) trial (flight) in early 2009."
Saraswat also confirmed that India's anti-ballistic missile program remained aggressively ambitious in its R and D goals. He said New Delhi was determined to build very high-speed anti-ballistic missile interceptors that could intercept and destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles with ranges of 3,000 miles.
"We are now going to build AD-1 and AD-2 -- high speed interceptors for engaging 5,000 kilometer -- 3,000 mile -- class targets," said Saraswat, who is also project director for DRDO's Air Defense wing told the reporters, according to another PTI report.
The new AD-1s and AD-2s would have the capability to shoot down ICBMs launched from deep inside the territory of potential enemy nations, Saraswat said.
"Currently, we have capabilities to defend ourselves from 2,500 km -- 1,500 mile -- range ballistic missiles. But suppose missiles are launched by our immediate neighbors from their rear formations
, they will be using long-range missiles -- Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles and Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles. "We should now develop technologies to defend against them. That is our effort
," he said, according to the PTI report.
That would give India the ambitious goal of building ABM interceptors comparable to the U.S. Ground-based Mid-course Interceptors, or GBIs, currently deployed around Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base
, Calif.. These GBIs are believed to be capable of enormous velocities of up to 20,000 mph or even 25,000 mph to make them capable of intercepting ICBMs in their mid-flight phase.
PTI also noted that India's DRDO rocket scientists and engineers had already over the past 18 months proved their ability to build anti-ballistic missile interceptors able to destroy incoming intermediate-range missiles at heights of up to 30 miles, or 150,000 feet outside the atmosphere, and at altitudes of nine miles, or 45,000 well within the atmosphere.
As previously reported in these columns. in November 2006, India successfully test-fired exo-atmospheric ABM interceptor that hit a target 30 miles height and in December 2007 it carried out a successful endo-atmospheric, or within-the-atmosphere test of an interceptor that hit its target at around 45,000 feet.Related Topics Articles：
