22 June 2001
ATK has said that the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has successfully conducted a static test firing of ATK's Third-Stage Rocket Motor (TSRM) for the STANDARD Missile-3 (SM-3). The test took place at AFRL's simulated altitude test facility located at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
The test was the ninth successful static firing of the two-pulse TSRM, which was designed, developed, and fabricated by ATK Missile Products Company, Elkton Operations, Elkton, Md. The static tests at AFRL are used to verify performance of the TSRM at altitude. This most recent test demonstrated a revised instrumentation package that will be used on upcoming flight tests.
The SM-3 and the AEGIS Weapon System comprise the Navy Theatre Wide ballistic missile defence system. SM-3 is designed to intercept an incoming ballistic missile outside the earth's atmosphere. Elkton Operations developed the TSRM under a multi-year contract with Raytheon Company, the Navy's prime contractor for the SM-3 program, and recently received an Excellence Award from the Navy for its outstanding contributions to the program.
In January, the SM-3 completed a successful flight test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. The test, which demonstrated the system's airframe stability and control through a nominal kinetic warhead separation, included successful operation of the TSRM. The flight from the US Navy Aegis Cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) was the third in a planned series of nine test flights under the Navy's Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI)