HUNTSVILLE, Ala.— Lockheed Martin’s new ICBM killer, ordered two years ago to supersede the oft-troubled GMD interceptor, hit two major milestones this week and is expected to clear the design phase later this year, company officials said.
The company said last week that its L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies, or NGI, had completed a critical burst test of its second-stage motor case. On Monday, ahead of the Space and Missile Defense Symposium here, Lockheed Martin announced that they had successfully fired its stage 2 rocket motor in a static test. Company officials said NGI, ordered under the Biden administration to replace the nation’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, should clear the critical design review, or CDR, phase by the end of this year.
“These milestones are major steps toward our path to CDR, confirming our utmost confidence that NGI will meet the demanding performance envelope on track for fielding by 2030,” Christopher Jewell, Lockheed Martin’s NGI vice president, told reporters on Monday evening…