Battery leak is suspected in Raytheon missile failure

An electrical leak from a battery may have prevented a warhead made by Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems from separating from its booster rocket in a missile-defense test that failed in July, according to findings emerging from a Pentagon review.

The “most likely root causes” are a combination of electrical leakage during activation of the warhead’s battery after launch and the “susceptibility of some” components to such leaks, according to a Jan. 23 letter to Congress that wasn’t previously made public.

The failed test has clouded prospects for the Pentagon’s plan to increase the number of Orbital Sciences Corp. (ORB) booster rockets in silos to 44 by fiscal 2017 from 30 today.

Read more