Pentagon Ends Boeing-Led $1 Billion Ballistic Missile Interceptor Program Over Design Issues

A Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California during a Missile Defense Agency test in 2010. The Defense Department said it would seek bids for a new version of the weapons system called the Redesigned Kill Vehicle

Daily Mail: Pentagon terminates Boeing-led $1 billion ballistic missile interceptor program over design problems

* The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it is terminating the troubled billion-dollar program to develop a ballistic missile interceptor, citing design problems
* The Defense Department said it would seek bids for a new version of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) weapons system
* The program was being led by Boeing
* The system was supposed to work by firing off a 'kill vehicle' from an interceptor missile to defend the US against long-range ballistic missile attacks
* In December 2018, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency concluded that 'certain critical components' failed to meet technical requirements
* Five months later, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering Michael Griffin decided to suspend the contract and consider alternatives
* The Pentagon finally concluded that the design problems were either insurmountable or too costly to fix

The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it is terminating a troubled billion-dollar program to develop a ballistic missile interceptor, citing design problems.

The Defense Department said it would seek bids for a new version of the weapons system called the Redesigned Kill Vehicle, or RKV. The program was being led by Boeing.

'Ending the program was the responsible thing to do,' said Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.

'Development programs sometimes encounter problems. After exercising due diligence, we decided the path we're going down wouldn't be fruitful, so we're not going down that path anymore,' Griffin added.

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Update #1: Pentagon puts Boeing $1 billion “kill vehicle” contract to death (War Is Boring)
Update #2: Pentagon Kills Multi-Billion-Dollar Boeing Missile Defense Contract Over Design Issues (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: This is a major setback.