Lockheed Martin Launches LV-2 Target For Ground-based Midcourse Defense Test

Target Supports Realistic Testing of Missile Defense System

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Jun 22, 2014, 06:14 ET

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., June 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] successfully flew an LV-2 intermediate-range ballistic missile target today for a test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system conducted by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

Lockheed Martin launched the unarmed missile target from a ground platform at the Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands. Preliminary analysis shows that the target met requirements for the test.

To support testing of the missile defense system, Lockheed Martin configured the 45-foot-long target to closely mirror the capabilities of ground-launched enemy missiles that can travel 3,000 to 5,500 kilometers (1,800 to 3,400 miles).

"Our team's experience in developing targets and conducting launch operations allows us to deliver threat-representative targets to support the Missile Defense Agency in testing and exercising deployed weapon systems," said Jeff Kepley, director of the Targets and Countermeasures Program, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

For each LV-2 mission, Lockheed Martin assembles a target from standardized components to replicate a specific threat missile, without the time and expense of one-of-a-kind development.

This test marked the fifth LV-2 mission since 2010, bringing Lockheed Martin's overall reliability record to 46 successes out of 47 target missions since 1996. The company's unmatched 98-percent mission success rate includes short-, medium- and intermediate-range target missiles launched from ground, air and sea platforms.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 113,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2013 were $45.4 billion.

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Lynn Fisher
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Approved for Public Release 14-MDA -7885

SOURCE Lockheed Martin