Boeing, US missile defense agency successfully test ICBM interceptor

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A flight test of the exercising elements of the GMD system is launched at the Vandenberg AFB

(photo credit: REUTERS/Gene Blevins)

With Iran inching closer to amassing enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, Boeing and the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have announced that they successfully demonstrated an advanced interceptor capability for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system.

The GMD system will defend the United States from long-range intercontinental ballistic missile threats. According to Boeing, GMD provides “the only capability to engage and defeat” long-range ballistic missile threats.

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 interceptor missile earlier in flight, allowing it to destroy a missile sooner after launch.

Boeing, US missile defense agency successfully test ICBM interceptor

Announcement comes as Iran and North Korea continue to push forward with their nuclear programs.

www.jpost.com