The Missile Defense Agency conducted an initial live-fire test Tuesday of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense platform component of the ballistic missile defense system.MDA said Tuesday a land-based interceptor that launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California used its exo-atmospheric kill vehicle to intercept and destroy an intercontinental ballistic missile that took off from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
During the test, the GMD system devised a fire control strategy to intercept the ICBM target through the use of tracking data received from the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication platform.
The Sea-Based X-band radar system located in the Pacific Ocean also assisted the GMD platform to acquire data and monitor the target.
MDA worked with the U.S. Air Force’s 30th space wing, U.S. Northern Command and the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense to perform the Flight Test Ground-Based Interceptor-15 test.
MDA will use the data from the FTG-15 test to further evaluate the GMD system’s performance.
The BMDS’ GMD element works to help U.S. combatant commanders engage long-range and intermediate ballistic missile threats.
