Redstone Alabama:
While the actual interceptors are based in both Alaska and California, much of the work on America’s anti-ballistic missiles is either done, or managed in Huntsville. In particular, the Ground Based Mid-Course Defense or GMD program is one that Huntsville impacts.
“The GMD is our ICBM defense of the homeland, and our only ICBM defense today”, said Colonel (retired) Dewey Granger, who works for Boeing now.
GMD works by having a modified ICBM, called a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) be launched towards an incoming ballistic missile and directly hitting it, called “hit to kill”. THis is the equivalent of hitting a bullet with another bullet.
The actual missile was built by Orbital ATK, the warhead by Raytheon, and the command and control system was built by Northrop Grumman. But Boeing has been the prime contractor since 1998.
Right now there are between 30-44 GBI’s deployed at Vandenberg AFB in California, and the plan is to reach the full level by the end of 2017.
They’re operated by the 100th Missile Defense Brigade, controlled by Space and Missile Defense Command at Redstone Arsenal.
