The Missile Defense Agency claims a pair of non-intercept flight tests executed this week validates the redesign of a component critical to the Standard Missile-3 Block IB interceptor -- the third-stage rocket motor, clearing the way for the Raytheon-led program to advance long-delayed plans to transition to full-rate production. In flight tests on May 25 and May 26, the guided missile destroyer Hooper (DDG-70) -- operating off the west coast of Hawaii -- launched a pair of SM-3 Block IB...
