After the X-Wing rocket aficionados, here’s some cool and real rocket action: this video shows Boeing’s successful test of their Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system. They launched a long-range ballistic missile from Alaska to destroy it minutes later using an interceptor missile from Vandenberg AFB in California. It’s the second test of this kind, but according to Boeing, this one gives them “greater confidence” that the system will “defend the nation:”
https://gizmodo.com/video-the-rocket-powered-x-wings-flight-and-death-308288
According to Scott Fancher, Boeing vice president and program director for GMD, “with another intercept under our belts, we have even greater confidence that the GMD system, if called upon in a real-world scenario, will defend the nation against a limited ballistic missile attack.”
Great. And all without attaching Jack Bauer to the interceptor (although I’m sure they glued a photo of Chuck Norris to its nose.) [Defense Tech]
