Ballistic Missile Defense System Targets and Reentry Vehicles

We have direct and relevant experience in theater Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) flight and ground testing. We also have an in-depth understanding of lethality damage mechanisms, and experience in the design, analysis, fabrication, and integration of flight hardware and high-speed instrumentation for both ground and flight-testing applications for Ballistic Missile Defense System Targets and Reentry Vehicles.

We have extensive design and fabrication experience involving foreign technology missile systems, including a broad range of target hardware that has been utilized in past flight tests, ground tests, and gas gun tests. On many occasions, we have worked closely with the threat community to develop threat representative hardware based on: (1) visual intelligence or actual hardware, (2) evaluation of intelligence data sources coupled with reverse engineering techniques, and (3) sound engineering practices and fabrication processes.

We have been key contributors in the development and fabrication of a wide variety of target and surrogate payload systems, including:

• Family of Modified Ballistic Reentry Vehicles (MBRV)
• Lethality Payload (LP)
• Bulk Chemical Lethality Front Section (BCLFS)
• Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP) Targets
• Short Range Air Launch Target (SRALT)
• Standard Missiles–2 (SM-2) Surrogates
• SM-3 Surrogates

We supported a talented group of engineers in the design analysis, procurement, manufacturing, assembly, test, integration, and delivery of hardware and services in support of the BCLFS BC Tank for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). This payload assembly was designed to interface with the existing MBRV-2 Aeroshell. The tank was highly instrumented with a wire-based hit indicator and pressure transducers. The tank was filled with a hazardous chemical simulant.

We supported the development of the first target system containing a high explosive material. We supported the integration and test efforts for the Lethality Payload (LP) for the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) flight test series conducted at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Kauai, Hawaii. This particular target was designed to retrofit into an existing Aries Aeroshell, and it contained a highly integrated electronics suite capable of detecting the hit location to within centimeter accuracy. We successfully tested the target on the FM-5, FM-6, and FM-7 missions.

Using the procedures and lessons learned from the Lethality Payload design, we supported the development of the target system for the Arrow System Improvement Program (ASIP) flight test series. This target was designed to carry a large amount of high explosive material, along with a highly integrated electronics package used to determine the hit location on the target. This system was successfully launched from the U.S.S. Tripoli off the coast of California.

We supported the development of the reentry vehicles for the MBRV-1 flight test program. This reentry vehicle system contained a payload consisting of many highly instrumented chemical submunitions. We were instrumental in the overall design, stress analysis, manufacturing, assembly, test, and delivery of this hardware. This system was successfully tested during a Patriot-3 (PAC-3) flight test at the White Sands Missile Range.

We were instrumental in the success of the SM-3 sled test program at the high-speed sled track at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We supported the development and fabrication of the target systems and the missile surrogates for the low-speed aerodynamic test, the guideway impact test, the high-speed checkout test, and direct hit test (DHT-1), DHT-2, DHT-3, and DHT-4. We performed a detailed impact analysis of the sled interacting with the guideway system. These analyses were documented and defended before several government agencies.

We supported a group of talented engineers in the design, procurement, manufacturing, assembly, test, and delivery of hardware and services in support of the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) high-speed sled test program. We played a critical role in developing, manufacturing, and testing the interceptor and target hardware associated with the SM-2 sled test program. We successfully managed three direct hit tests at the high-speed sled track at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We performed the detailed stress and dynamic analyses for several portions of the interceptor structure. We also supported the modal survey testing on the interceptor hardware.