Boeing officials are unveiling a mobile Ground-Based Interceptor design as an option while the White House mulls the future of deploying an additional set of defenses designed to protect the United States and Europe from the threat of an Iranian long-range ballistic missile.

The company included a small model of the concept at its exhibit for the Space and Missile Defense Conference 2009 here this week. Program officials also spoke about it publicly for the first time at the conference.

President George W. Bush was pursuing a plan to base an X-band tracking radar in the Czech Republic and 10 fixed GBIs in Poland. But the plan triggered ire from Russia, which claims the interceptors could threaten Moscow’s nuclear deterrent capability or that the missiles could actually provide an offensive capability against Russia – as well as encroach on Russian regional influence. U.S. officials refute those arguments, but the Obama administration is reviewing the proposal, including a consideration of other options.

Some missile defense advocates suggest the delay of a two-stage booster verification fly-out test, which is now set for next spring, indicates a lack of urgency in fielding this variant in Poland (the two-stage GBI is being developed for the European application).

MDA officials, however, say a lack of Polish movement ratifying the arrangement, as well as limits handed down by the U.S. Congress in establishing the site, allowed more time for the test, which was scheduled for this summer. The Ground-based Midcourse Defense system also further had a controversial history with testing, in general.

Boeing’s concept is to provide a mobile, two-stage GBI in a truck container. The missile would be hatched and perched on a pedestal in preparation for launch. Including shipping from the continental United States, the mobile GBI could be ready for launch 24 hours after departure, says Norm Tew, Boeing GMD program manager.

This configuration could address some of Russia’s concerns about a fixed site of Polish silos. And, it could be subject to standard arms control monitoring regimes. Perhaps to quell Russian worries, it could be stored in containers until a threat is detected, whereupon the system could be readied for launch in about an hour.

Raytheon has been pushing a land-based Standard Missile 3 option from its seabased Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense program for protection of Europe, as well. There may be some other ideas to explore, says Greg Hyslop, missile defense vice president for Boeing, referring to the mobile GBI. The Boeing officials discussed the design during an interview with Aviation Week on Aug. 18.

Boeing has undertaken limited studies of the concept on its own dime, Hyslop says. Cost of developing and deploying a mobile system could prove to be less expensive than establishing a fixed site, Hyslop says. Data is preliminary, though. About 35 percent of the drawings on the Polish site are complete.

The command and control and in-flight data terminal needed to relay target updates to the interceptor could be located at a fixed site, while the missiles could be shifted as needed, Boeing officials say.

They say the mobile GBI could be ready for deployment by 2015, when intelligence officials have said the threat of a long-range ballistic missile attack from Iran is projected to materialize. Debate has swirled inside Washington whether Iran could achieve it sooner.

Once developed, a mobile GBI could also be deployed in the United States or elsewhere against threats posed by Iran and North Korea. As the White House reviews its options, one that has surfaced is basing GBIs mobile or fixed sites at Ft. Drum, N.Y. This would require the three-stage variant and would protect the U.S. homeland, but not Europe.

Raytheon is also actively proposing an alternative. It says a land-based SM-3 could achieve initial operational capability in 2013; $50 million for this program is included in the Missile Defense Agency’s Fiscal 2010 budget request. MDA is also planning to establish a land-based SM-3 program office at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., where the agency has many of its program offices, according to Raytheon.

The land-based SM-3 would be fired from a vertical launch system optimized for ship operation outfitted for use on the ground. And, it would operate with the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) systems AN/TPY-2 radar and fire control system, says Pete Franklin, Raytheon’s vice president of national and theater security programs. These are being procured by MDA already as part of the Thaad program.

MDA has not yet stated its preference for protection of Europe.

Photo: MDA