The Lightweight Exo-atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) is a lightweight miniaturized kinetic kill vehicle designed to destroy incoming

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) typic ...

s both inside and outside the Earth's

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

.Paul Baker, Buster Kelley, Anne Avetissian, ''Lightweight exo-atmospheric projectile (LEAP) Space Flight Test, June 1992, performance validation'', AIAA and SDIO, 2nd Annual Interceptor Technology Conference, Albuquerque, NM, June 6–9, 1993 The warhead is delivered to the interception point by a system such as the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.

History

Development began in 1985 by the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, which pioneered the development of miniaturized kill vehicle technology. It was originally created by the now-defunct

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules air ...

; the modern versions are developed and built by

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

References

Missile defense {{missile-stub

History

See also

References