22 August 2019

Pentagon terminates RKV homeland missile defence upgrade due to ‘technical problems'

by Daniel Wasserbly

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is terminating its programme to develop a more reliable interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, which was designed to defend the United States against limited long-range nuclear attacks.

The department “will terminate the current Boeing contract for development of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) effective August 22 2019 due to technical design problems”, according to US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) spokesperson Mark Wright. “[The] DoD will initiate competition for a new, next-generation interceptor,” he said.

Michael Griffin, under-secretary of defence for research and engineering, decided to terminate the programme on 14 August, and Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist concurred with the decision, Wright said.

An artist's rendering of an EKV in space after separating from the interceptor's booster. The RKV was to replace EKV on the latest interceptors, but the project was terminated in August 2019. (Raytheon)

In December 2018 MDA had delayed a critical design review for the RKV “due to the failure of certain critical components to meet technical requirements as specified in the development contract”, Wright said. In May 2019 Griffin directed MDA to issue a so-called stop-work order and begin an ‘analysis of alternatives’.

“The department ultimately determined [that] the technical design problems were so significant as to be either insurmountable or cost-prohibitive to correct,” Wright said. “Research and testing accomplished prior to the programme’s end will inform development of the next-generation interceptor, which will include a new kill vehicle.”

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is terminating its programme to develop a more reliable intercept...

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