Missile Defense Agency flight tests new 'selectable' GMD booster

摘要

The Missile Defense Agency executed a non-intercept flight test of a new Ground-based Midcourse Defense capability that aims to improve homeland defense against North Korean threats by optimizing engagement times of long-range interceptors by giving operators a new option to tailor the trajectory of guided-missile interceptors. On Sept. 12, MDA conducted what it claimed was a successful launch of a GMD flight test, GM Booster Vehicle Test (BVT)-03, lofting from Vandenburg Air Force Base, CA, a new booster capability carrying a surrogate kill vehicle - the first demonstration of what is called a 2-/3-stage selectable Ground-based Interceptor.