The Pentagon has canceled a $ 1 billion program to develop an interceptor ballistic missile system because of what it said were design problems, the Pentagon said on Monday.
The ministry said it would seek proposals for a new version of the system, known as RKV. Boeing was leading the program.
"The end of the program was a responsible decision," said Michael Griffin, defense research and engineering officer. "Program development sometimes has problems. After careful consideration, we have decided that the path we are taking will not be productive, so we will not complete it."
The ground system, which means "redesigned killing vehicle", was to launch a "lethal vehicle" from an interceptor missile to defend the United States against any long-range ballistic missile attacks.
But the program has suffered setbacks for years.
In December 2018, the Pentagon´s Missile Defense Agency concluded that "certain sensitive components" did not meet technical requirements, according to Defense Department spokesman Colonel Robert Carver.
Five months later, Griffin decided to suspend the contract and consider alternatives, and the Pentagon finally concluded that design problems were insurmountable or too expensive to fix, Carver said.
"We will benefit from research and experiments conducted before the end of the program in developing the next generation of interceptor missiles, which will include the killing vehicle," he said.
