:

Missile Defense

MDA Tests New Three-Stage Booster For Missile Defense System

Monday, September 13th, 2021

SHARE:

MDA Tests New Three-Stage Booster For Missile Defense System

A long-range Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. In a flight test of a three-stage booster rocket operating in a two-stage mode in 2021. (Photo: Missile Defense Agency)

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) on Sunday conducted the first flight test of a new three-stage booster for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) System's Ground Based Interceptor (GBI), demonstrating variable stage usage. The GMD aims to defend against a small number of longer range ballistic missiles from an opponent like North Korea, using the GBIs based in Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. MDA said this test entailed a GBI launching with a mock-up of the Exoatmospheric…

Congress

Senior GOP HASC Members Wittman, Turner Ousted Amid Dems’ Blue Wave

Two senior Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee, including a potential frontrunner for the panel’s top GOP role, have officially lost their reelection bids. Reps. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and […]

Congress

Dems’ Big Night Set To Reshape Top Defense Committee Spots, As Key GOP’ers Knocked Off

Democrats’ sweeping victories in Tuesday’s midterms, taking back control of the House and Senate, are set to reshape key spots atop defense committees, to include House Armed Services panels and […]

Congress

Key Defense Committee Members Face Tight Midterm Races, Including HASC GOP’ers In Virginia

As the mid-term elections near with polls showing an increasing likelihood of a switch in majority control in the House and potentially the Senate, three Virginia Republicans on the House […]

‘Theoretical Potential’ to Achieve 1,509 Combat-Coded Fighters by 2035, USAF Says

In the latest U.S. Air Force fighter force structure report submitted to Congress, the service speaks of a “theoretical potential” to achieve a goal of 1,509 combat-coded fighters in the […]