The Lightweight Exo-atmospheric Projectile (LEAP) is a lightweight miniaturized

kinetic kill vehicle A kinetic energy weapon (also known as kinetic weapon, kinetic energy warhead, kinetic warhead, kinetic projectile, kinetic kill vehicle) is a weapon based solely on a projectile's kinetic energy instead of an explosive or any other kind of p ...

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 guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within ...

s both inside or outside the Earth's

atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. ...

.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 The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System (Aegis BMD or ABMD), also known as ''Sea-Based Midcourse'', is a United States Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency program developed to provide missile defense against short to intermediate-r ...

History

Development began in 1985 by the

Strategic Defense Initiative Organization The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), derisively nicknamed the "''Star Wars'' program", was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic ...

, which pioneered the development of miniaturized kill vehicle technology. It was originally created by the now-defunct Hughes Aircraft Company; the modern versions are developed and built by

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

References

Missile defense {{missile-stub

History

See also

References