[Launch Alert] Launch Follow-Up

Fri Sep 28 22:43:29 EDT 2007

                             LAUNCH ALERT

			            Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		             kd6nrp at earthlink.net
	               http://www.spacearchive.info

				          2007 September 28 (Friday) 19:39 PDT
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   MISSILE DEFENSE EXERCISE AND FLIGHT TEST SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED
                 Missile Defense Agency News Release
                             2007 SEP 28

The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced today it has completed an
important exercise and flight test involving a successful intercept by
a ground-based interceptor missile designed to protect the United
States against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack. The
flight test results will help to further improve and refine the
performance of numerous Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS)
elements able to provide a defense against the type of long-range
ballistic missile that could be used to attack an American city with a
weapon of mass destruction.

The interceptor was launched from the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense
Site, located at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. For this exercise,
a threat-representative target missile was launched from Kodiak,
Alaska.

The exercise was designed to evaluate the performance of several
elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). Mission
objectives included demonstrating the ability of the Upgraded Early
Warning Radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to acquire, track and
report on objects. The test also evaluated the performance of the
interceptor missile’s rocket motor system and exoatmospheric kill
vehicle, which is the component that collides directly with a target
warhead in space to perform a “hit to kill” intercept using only the
force of the collision to totally destroy the target warhead. Initial
indications are that the rocket motor system and kill vehicle
performed as designed. Program officials will evaluate system
performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the
test.

The target was also successfully tracked by the Sea-Based X-band (SBX)
radar and an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense ship using onboard SPY-1
radar. The Missile Defense Agency is developing and deploying an
extensive network of land and sea-based radars to detect and track all
types of ballistic missiles and to provide targeting information to
interceptor missiles through the Command, Control, Battle Management
and Communication (C2BMC) system.

The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system currently has interceptor
missiles deployed at Ft. Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
Several U.S. Navy Aegis-class cruisers and destroyers with advanced
SPY-1 radar have been modified for integration in to the command,
control, battle management and communication element of the
Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.

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RAYTHEON MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS KEY IN SUCCESSFUL BALLISTIC MISSILE
                         INTERCEPT IN SPACE
                       Raytheon News Release

TUCSON, Ariz., and TEWKSBURY, Mass., Sept. 28, 2007 -- Raytheon
Company (NYSE: RTN) components built under contract to The Boeing
Company, the prime contractor for the Ground-based Midcourse Defense
(GMD) system, played key roles in the destruction of a ballistic
missile target during GMD's latest successful flight test conducted
Sept. 28 by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

The Raytheon-built Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) intercepted the
ballistic missile target in space over the eastern Pacific Ocean. The
Raytheon-developed Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) at Beale Air
Force Base, Calif., successfully tracked the target system for
approximately 15 minutes during its flight downrange to the intercept
point several hundred miles west of California. The Raytheon-developed
X-Band Radar (XBR), the primary payload of the Sea-Based X-Band Radar
(SBX), actively participated in this test by tracking, discriminating
and assessing the target.

While in flight, the EKV received target updates from the In-Flight
Interceptor Communication System and performed a star shot to
calibrate its own position. The EKV observed the target complex with
its advanced multi-color infrared seeker and successfully selected the
target from other objects in space. During the end game, as the target
grew in the seeker's field of view, the EKV selected the aimpoint and
maneuvered for a direct, lethal hit.

As the primary ground-based sensor for this mission, the UEWR
successfully acquired, tracked and classified the target system,
providing critical targeting data to the system under test. The UEWR
achieved all mission objectives as it continues its flawless support
to GMD flight tests and path to Air Force operational acceptance.

Positioned in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the XBR initiated track on
the target complex and collected valuable data, which will be used to
hone algorithms for future flight tests. The radar achieved all
mission objectives. This test marks the third successful mission that
the Sea-Based XBR has participated in since last September.

"This highly successful test of the GMD system once again demonstrates
Raytheon's systems performance and reliability," said Louise
Francesconi, Raytheon Missile Systems president. "The test clearly
demonstrates the maturity of our technology and our ability to provide
this critical capability to the nation."

"The XBR and UEWR demonstrated exceptional performance in this
critical test of U.S. missile defense capability," said Pete Franklin,
vice president, National & Theater Security Programs for Raytheon
Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). "This latest exercise confirms the
radars' ability to gather information necessary to support an
intercept."

The test marked the second time an operationally configured
ground-based interceptor was launched from an operational GMD site at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The target was launched from Kodiak,
Alaska.

Designated Flight Test Ground-based Midcourse Defense-03a (FTG-03a),
the test included a planned intercept of the target as one of its
objectives. Other objectives included the EKV's ability to
successfully detect, track, discriminate a target in space and
communicate with ground-based sensors, and included participation of
the SBX in the test.

This test again demonstrated the system's capability to launch a
ground-based interceptor and perform EKV separation and delivery of
the EKV to the desired point in space and time.

Raytheon is a major subcontractor to The Boeing Company, the prime
contractor for the GMD program, providing the EKV, UEWRs and the XBR.

Continuing the Raytheon heritage with UHF phased array radars, the
Beale UEWR program upgrades existing PAVE PAWS and Ballistic Missile
Early Warning System radars by adding missile defense capabilities
while retaining missile warning and space surveillance missions. As
key sensors for the Missile Defense Agency's Ballistic Missile Defense
System (BMDS), UEWR and SBX provide midcourse target detection,
tracking, and assessment for the GMD portion of the BMDS to protect
the U.S. from ballistic missile attacks.

Raytheon Integrated Defense System is upgrading UEWRs at Beale Air
Force Base, Calif., and Fylingdales, U.K., under a subcontract to
Boeing. Raytheon IDS is also upgrading the UEWR at Thule Air Base,
Greenland, under a separate Missile Defense Agency contract awarded in
April 2006.

Raytheon Company, with 2006 sales of $20.3 billion, is a technology
leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government
markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning
more than 85 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics,
mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of
sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and
intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support
services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000
people worldwide.

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