Doooooh! Wow, John Clark is on a roll here... {8-[ {8^D spike
NAVY THEATERWIDE ABM TEST FAILS: The Navy Theater
Wide (NTW) program flight test round-1 (FTR-1) failed on Friday,
but the service vowed that the program would forge ahead with a
series of flights and evaluations over the next three years. "We don't
have any information on what really happened as yet; all we know
at this point is that third stage did not separate," a Navy spokeswoman
said yesterday. "There are no implications on the overall program."
FTR-1 test was the first risk reduction flight of the Raytheon Standard
Missile-3 (SM-3) third-stage rocket motor and the second flight overall
in the Aegis LEAP intercept (ALI) test series, according to a Navy
statement. The SM-3 is in development as the long-range exoatmospheric
missile to combat theater ballistic missiles, similar to mission of the
Army's Theater High Altitude Area Defense program, which is built
by Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin builds the Aegis weapon system
that controls missile targeting and launch. Also, the company developed
the vertical launch systems from which the interceptor rockets are to be
fired. (Defense Daily)
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