Boeing's $1 billion 'kill vehicle' contract ended by Pentagon
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon canceled a Boeing Co. contract for a “kill vehicle” envisioned to shoot down missiles from North Korea or Iran, the latest setback to a next-generation system that has struggled to prove its effectiveness.
The termination of the Redesigned Kill Vehicle comes as the maker of the interceptor’s warhead, Raytheon Co., continued to struggle with design and manufacturing problems that increased costs, the Missile Defense Agency said in a statement Wednesday. Boeing had received a $1 billion contract in May 2017 for the project.
“Ending the program was the responsible thing to do,” Michael Griffin, the under secretary of defense for research and engineering said in the statement. “After exercising due diligence, we decided the path we’re going down wouldn’t be fruitful, so we’re not going down that path anymore.”
The Defense Department plans start a competition for a new contract to design a next-generation interceptor, according to the statement.
The interceptor had been billed as a major improvement for a $180 billion network of ground- and sea-based missile interceptors, sensors and communications links intended to defend the U.S. from a limited North Korean or Iranian attack by dispatching a missile to crash into and destroy it.
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