New Ground-Based Interceptor Successfully Test-Launched In US - Boeing

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2021) The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has successfully test-launched a ground-based interceptor (GBI) designed for protection against long-range intercontinental ballistic missile threats, Boeing has announced.

"The test included launching a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) into space with a three-stage booster in two-stage mode, allowing the GBI to release the kill vehicle earlier in flight, providing an earlier opportunity to intercept and defeat a missile threat," Boeing said on Sunday.

The new GBI, launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, is designed to give operators the real-time choice between a two-stage or three-stage interceptor, depending on the threat's location and speed.

The new achievement will allow the GBIs, which will be used as part of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, to be modernized as part of the MDA's Service Life Extension Program, Boeing specified.

The company has been the prime contractor for the GMD system since 1998.