US kill vehicle terminated
The US DoD is terminating development of an improved kill vehicle for its existing long-range interceptor missile, citing ‘technical design problems,’ and will instead launch a competition for a new ‘next-generation’ interceptor that will include a new kill vehicle.
The Raytheon-built Redesigned Kill Vehicle (RKV) was supposed to be more capable and reliable than the existing Exo-atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV, pictured), also made by Raytheon. But in December 2018, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) postponed the RKV’s critical design review because key components failed to meet technical requirements.
‘Ending the programme was the responsible thing to do,’ DoD research
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