The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin successfully tested Hamilton Sundstrand's Thrust Vector Actuation system May 11 on the Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile.
Hamilton Sundstrand's TVA system provided the critical steering capability to keep the missile on its precise flight path, the company said in a statement.
The TVA system, consisting of a controller, batteries and two actuators, steered the THAAD missile during booster fly-out that enabled the missile to perform maneuvers necessary to meet the demanding requirements of the missile flight path.
THAAD is a key element of the U.S. military's Ballistic Missile Defense System, under development to provide rapidly deployable ground-based missile defense components. THAAD is intended to defeat ballistic missiles in the terminal phase of flight.
Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the THAAD program. Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies, supplies aircraft systems and services, and space systems.
