U.S. gives firm ‘star wars’ weapon job

Press, 4 December 1985, Page 9

U.S. gives firm ‘star wars’ weapon job

NZ-ReuterPA Washington The United States yesterday awarded the McDonnell Douglas Corporation a “star wars” research contract to design and test a weapon to destroy nuclear warheads descending to Earth. The award, the second large contract to be announced in a month on the anti-missile programme in spite of strong protests by the Soviet Union, was made by the United States Army and the office for the Strategic Defence Initiative, which is the formal name for “star wars.” Defence officials said that research on the projectile, to kill attacking warheads with non-nuclear explosive fragments at an altitude of less than 91,000 m, would take five years, with testing expected in the final two years. No value was placed on the contract pending negotiations with McDonnell Douglas. But earlier estimates suggested research and testing could cost more than SUS4OO million ($7OO million).

On November 7, the Lockheed Corporation was picked to design and test a

missile designed to collide with and destroy attacking nuclear warheads in space. The announcement yesterday emphasised that the latest programme would be conducted in compliance with the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty and that all test flights would be conducted from fixed, groundbased launchers at designated test ranges. SD.I. officials refused to discuss any specifics of the McDonnell Douglas research, including whether or not the explosive antimissile rocket might use an infra-red (heat-seeking) targeting mechanism. McDonnell Douglas is the nation’s number one defence contractor. A subsidiary, McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Co., of Huntingdon Beach, California, will be the prime contractor on the project and will provide work to other firms. It was announced that McDonnell Douglas won the prime contract after a battle with Martin Marietta Corporation. The firm would design and develop a missile for the “High Endo-atmospheric Defence Interceptor” project.