Northrop Grumman redesigning ICBM target vehicle for US Missle Defense Agency

News, US September 2, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

3 minute read

U.S. defense manufacturer Northrop Grumman is redesigning the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) target vehicle for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to replace the Trident C4 first-stage solid rocket motor with a Peacekeeper SR119 motor.

Northrop Grumman modified the retired SR119 rocket motor to serve as a first-stage motor, achieving mission objectives with minimal changes to the original design. The Peacekeeper SR119 motor would provide extended range, lift capability, and payload capacity for ICBM target missions, the company statement highlighted.

The company has leveraged virtual and augmented reality technology to fully animate and validate the target vehicle’s new integration and stacking operations, increasing the target longevity of the new ICBM and supporting future missile defense testing.

Northrop Grumman’s redesigned ICBM target is the company’s first program to utilize virtual and augmented reality for fully animating the vehicle’s factory integration and field operations, a process known as pathfinding.

The Pathfinding approach offers a lower-risk environment for thoroughly testing new integration, stacking, and test procedures on inert hardware. By virtually simulating the pathfinding operations, the program further reduces risk, enhances end-to-end testing capabilities, and optimizes processes to deliver this critical capability with greater agility.

*^{Minuteman III missile reentry vehicle coming through the atmosphere about to make a splash in the ocean graphic. (Image Credit: Air Force/Color Graphic by TSgt. Mark A. Schurman)}*

Director of targets at Northrop Grumman, Robin Heard said, “Our approach to building target vehicles enables us to pair new and proven technologies together to create the best solution to meet customer needs. It’s about finding the right balance of affordability and innovation – combining capable, government-owned surplus motors and sophisticated front ends to simulate current and emerging threats.”

Northrop Grumman is the main contractor for the MDA and has delivered 25 intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missile target vehicles since 2011 and supported 10 successful launches.

Earlier in August, Northrop Grumman successfully completed the Critical Design Review of its redesigned ICBM target, and the redesigned vehicle is expected to take its first flight in late 2025. “It will be compatible with advanced front ends to simulate sophisticated, long-range ballistic missile threats,” the company statement highlighted.

Northrop Grumman completed a static fire of the SR119 solid rocket motor in 2022 and initial SR119 integration pathfinding operations in June 2024. These tests, conducted in close collaboration with the MDA and the U.S. Air Force Rocket Systems Launch Program, confirmed the motor’s ability to function effectively as the first stage in this new target vehicle application.

MDA uses the ICBM target vehicles, the threat-representative missiles, to test the efficacy of the U.S. missile defense systems, such as Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems, and Ground-based Midcourse Defense System.