A Raytheon Company Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) demonstrated successful two-stage flyout on June 6, 2010 during the latest test of the Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.

During this non-intercept mission, Raytheon's EKV met all test objectives, gathering critical data on kill vehicle performance that will improve the fidelity of its simulation models.

"This test once again demonstrates the reliability and quality of Raytheon's Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle," said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "The knowledge we gained will strengthen our nation's shield against threat ballistic missiles."

The test began at 3:25 p.m. PDT when the two-stage ground-based interceptor lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Carrying an operational EKV payload, the GBI measured performance data for the new two-stage design as well as how an operationally configured EKV operates under stressing boundary conditions.

The EKV is the intercept component of the GBI, which is the weapon element of the GMD system. Its mission in the defense of the nation is to engage high-speed ballistic missile warheads in the midcourse phase of flight and to destroy them using only the force of impact or hit-to-kill.

EKV consists of an infrared sensor in a flight package used to detect and discriminate the incoming warhead from other objects. The EKV also has its own propulsion, communications link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system and computers to support target selection and intercept.

The Raytheon-developed X-band radar, the primary payload of the sea-based X-band radar, and the AN/TPY-2 radar actively participated in this test by tracking, discriminating and assessing.

"Once again, Raytheon radars demonstrated exceptional performance in this critical test of U.S. missile defense capability," said Karen Kalil-Brown, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems vice president of National and Theater Security Programs.