The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in late May successfully tested in a pair of flight tests its enhanced MK 136 Third Stage Rocket Motor nozzle on the Raytheon [RTN] Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB in controlled test vehicles 01a/02, according to an Orbital ATK [OA] statement.
The missiles were launched from a Navy Aegis destroyer off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The primary objective of the flight tests was to demonstrate Orbital ATK’s enhanced nozzle, which improves performance of the SM-3 Block IB missile in a range of flight scenarios. The new nozzle features improvements to increase the robustness of the design across the operating environment.
Orbital ATK said the two tests provided additional validation of the improved nozzle and confirmed results seen in successful full-scale tests at the company’s facility in Elkton, Md., and the Air Force Rocket Laboratory test facility at Edwards AFB, Calif.
Orbital ATK supplies the enhanced nozzle to SM-3 prime contractor Raytheon.