Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Engine System Completed Multiple Kill Vehicle Ground Test
CANOGA PARK, Ca., Aug. 29 / - A divert and attitude control system built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) has completed a demanding hot-fire test for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) payload system at the National Hover Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The test was a precursor to next summer's hover flight test in the same facility. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company is the prime contractor for the Multiple Kill Defense System. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. company.
"The completion of this propulsion test achieves a key knowledge point for the program," said Don Stevenson, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne's program manager. "We have been developing and building divert and attitude control systems for missile defense for more than two decades, and it is this extensive experience that we leveraged for the MKV test."
During an engagement with the enemy, this high-performance propulsion system maneuvers the carrier vehicle and its cargo of kill vehicles into the threat complex to intercept the targets.
The Multiple Kill Vehicle adds "volume kill capability" to the Ballistic Missile Defense System for both land- and sea-based weapons. A single interceptor equipped with this payload greatly increases the ability to destroy complex threats. This "many-on-many" strategy eliminates the need for extensive pre-launch intelligence, ensuring a robust and affordable solution for missile defense.
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc., a part of Pratt & Whitney, offers a complete line of propulsion products used in a wide variety of government and commercial applications, including the main engines for the space shuttle, Atlas and Delta launch vehicles, missile defense systems and advanced hypersonic engines.
Pratt & Whitney is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, space propulsion systems and industrial gas turbines. United Technologies, based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company providing high technology products and services to the global aerospace and building industries.
FCMN Contact: john.mitchell@pwr.utc.com
Source: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
CONTACT: Bryan Kidder, 818-586-2213, bryan.kidder@pwr.utc.com, or John Mitchell, 818-586-4564, john.mitchell@pwr.utc.com, both of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne
Web site: www.pratt-whitney.com
