LRALT
Launch vehicle · USA
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
American air-launched target rocket built by Coleman Aerospace. Air-launched anti-ballistic missile target composed of two surplus SR19 states in tandem.
The LRALT program was managed by the Missile Defense Agency Targets and Countermeasures Directorate and developed for MDA by the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center and L3/Coleman Aerospace Corp. LRALT is based on two Minuteman II second stages taken from deactivated assets. The delivery system is air-extracted from a C-17 for launch on any azimuth. LRALT was developed as a target for realistic testing of the Ballistic Missile Defense System using air-launch as a method to relieve the test constraints imposed by fixed ground launch sites.
Related
- Family
- aircraft-launched, ABM target
- Country
- USA
- Launch Sites
- Midway Island NDZ, Midway Island SDZ
- Agency
- Coleman
- Bibliography
- 2
Chronology
3 events
2004 May 3
04:06 GMT - . Launch Site: Midway. Launch Complex: Midway Island SDZ. Launch Pad: 25.0 N x 178.0 W. Launch Platform: C-17. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: LRALT.- LRALT Demo test - . Nation: USA. Agency: US Army. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). Air-launched from a C-17. The LRALT missile boosted a simulated reentry vehicle from a point just south of Midway Island to the vicinity of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands..
2005 September 26
Launch Site: Midway. Launch Complex: Midway Island NDZ. Launch Pad: 42.0 N x 176.0 W. Launch Platform: C-17. LV Family: Minuteman. Launch Vehicle: LRALT.- Cobra Dane Test - . Nation: USA. Agency: USA MDA. Apogee: 300 km (180 mi). Air-launched from a C-17. Missile Defense Radar Technology target..