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Remanufactured Minuteman Solid Rocket Motor Tested
The first remanufactured production Minuteman III stage 1 solid rocket motor was successfully tested this month at the Thiokol Propulsion test range at Promontory, Utah. This was the first production motor delivered under the Low Rate Initial Production phase of the Air Force's Propulsion Replacement Program, which is managed by TRW Inc. The successful test of this motor allows the Air Force to begin accepting production stage 1 motors to replace the aging motors in the Minuteman III missile force. The Propulsion Replacement Program (PRP) replaces the stage 1, 2 and 3 solid rocket motors in the Minuteman III force with new remanufactured motors to maintain the alert readiness status of the force until 2020. The PRP is being managed by TRW as the prime integration contractor for the ICBM force, a contract awarded to TRW in 1997. With the overall responsibility of ensuring the readiness of the land-based ICBM force in support of national defense strategies, TRW is also managing replacement of the Minuteman III's guidance system and refurbishment of the post-boost, liquid propulsion stage of the missile. "This successful test shows that our production motors meet the Air Force's performance requirements and will allow us to proceed with delivery of Minuteman III motors for this important program," said Dr. Robert Strickler, vice president and general manager, TRW Space & Missile Systems Division. The contract for full-rate production of the PRP has a potential value of $1.6 billion through September 2008. The Air Force is expected to make a full rate production decision early next year. Under contract to TRW, Thiokol Propulsion, a business unit of Alcoa Inc., and Pratt & Whitney's Chemical Systems Division (CSD) formed a joint-venture propulsion team to produce the motors. Thiokol and CSD are remanufacturing the motors, replacing the propellant and obsolete or environmentally unsafe materials and components. Under its ICBM prime contract, TRW is also managing the Guidance Replacement Program (GRP), which is led by TRW teammate The Boeing Company. GRP, which went into full rate production in December 1999, will extend the life of the Minuteman III guidance system. TRW's other ICBM responsibility is the Propulsion System Rocket Engine Life Extension Program, an effort that will refurbish the liquid propulsion stage of the Minuteman III missile to extend its life beyond 2020. TRW has served as systems engineering and technical advisor to the Air Force in managing the ICBM fleet since 1954. TRW's ICBM prime integration contract reflects major changes in the management of the nation's ICBM program. Formerly, the ICBM System Program Office (SPO) at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, directed a number of associate contractors that provided various elements of the ICBM system; TRW provided technical support to the SPO. Under the contract awarded in 1997, TRW, as the prime contractor, manages the total ICBM system and the integrated team of contractors.
Related Links 
Baikonur - Sept. 25, 2000A modified RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missile carrying the first two Saudi Arabian research satellites, as well as one Malaysian and two Italian satellites, is to be launched into space from the Baikonur cosmodrome on Sept. 26, sources in Baikonur's Federal Space Center told Interfax last Monday.   Nov 02, 2006
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