The Defense Department has set four critical flight tests to determine production and fielding decisions for the $17 billion Next Generation Interceptor program, setting up a high-stakes series of intercept attempts for the new homeland ballistic missile defense guided missile between fiscal years 2027 and 2029. This approach aims to satisfy the “fly-before-you-buy” maxim -- an approach the Missile Defense Agency failed to adopt in the early plan for the $1.2 billion Redesigned Kill Vehicle development, the failed predecessor to...