The Missile Defense Agency awarded Boeing [BA] a $1 billion undefinitized modification to a contract procuring Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) development, the Defense Department announced Monday.
The RKV is intended to make the interceptor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system more reliable against long-range ballistic missiles. This is an attempt to redesign the exo-atmospheric kill vehicle that sits atop its long-range interceptor missile.
Photo: Missile Defense Agency.
The award includes four initial production RKVs for initial fielding, payload development, payload ground testing, integration with the Ground-based Interceptor (GBI) and GMD Ground system, and flight testing.
Boeing said this modification involved technology used for the kill vehicles. Design modifications include reliability enhancements, productivity improvements, design modularity for maintainability, communication technology and specific performance improvements to handle increasingly complex and evolving threat environments, the company said.
“Boeing’s knowledge of not only kill vehicle technology, but its integration within the broader GMD system architecture as the system designer, makes us uniquely capable to carry out this customer requirement,” a company spokesman told Defense Daily.
The company added the payload ground testing, integration with the GBI and GMD ground system, and flight testing requirements “will enable the current system to keep pace with threats that are growing in complexity and quantity.”
Boeing will also use the modification requirements to lower customer risk, provide enhanced and increased kill vehicle performance, and easier upgrades and maintenance, the company said.
This modification raises the total contract value from $4.7 billion to $5.8 billion.The estimated completion date of this contract is June 2022.
RKV development is set to be performed by an industry team made of Boeing, Lockheed Martin [LMT], and Raytheon [RTN].
Boeing is GMD’s prime contractor.