It seems we missed a relatively important feature of the last test of the Missile Defense Agency’s ground-based ballistic missile interceptor system in that it provided the first occasion for airmen at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to actually launch an interceptor missile from a Vandy MDA silo. “This was a huge launch for us,” said Col. Jack Weinstein, commander of 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg. The Pentagon plans ultimately to deploy two interceptors in silos at Vandenberg, in addition to up to 16 in Alaska.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
