Two Aerojet Motors Boost Target Vehicle in Successful Patriot Missile Defense Test

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 6, 2002 -- Two former Minuteman II second-stage motors from Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. (NYSE: GY) company, successfully boosted a target vehicle on May 29 during a flight test of the Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor.

The motors flew as a Stage 1 and Stage 2 stack on the suborbital Orbital Sciences target vehicle. All indications show the motors performed nominally during the flight of the target from the Wake Island Reagan Test Site in the central Pacific Ocean. The PAC-3 successfully intercepted the target.

Aerojet refurbished the two solid-propellant SR-19 motors under the Air Force Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP). They were the 45th and 46th modified SR-19s to be successfully launched under the RSLP, which provides target missiles for national and theatre missile defense programs as well as space launch vehicles for other military programs.

"The RSLP team had just four months to design, reconfigure and deliver the motors. Through Aerojet's expertise in large solid booster handling and precision assembly, all requirements were met and the Missile Defense Agency received a dependable target vehicle," said Gil Maldonado, Aerojet RSLP program manager.

Modifications to the SR-19 motors included incorporating a flexseal Thrust Vectoring Control System, which creates a moveable nozzle, and a new high-pressure shut-off valve for the Stage 1 motor.

Aerojet originally built the SR-19s in the 1960s for the U.S. Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile fleet. The motors returned to Aerojet once before in the 1980s for a remanufacturing program that extended their service life until deployment of Minuteman III ICBMs. The Air Force now stores the SR-19s for uses such as the RSLP.

The PAC-3 missile is a high velocity, hit-to-kill missile and is the next-generation Patriot missile being developed to provide increased defense capability against advanced tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hostile aircraft. The PAC-3 missile uses kinetic energy to destroy its ballistic missile targets.

Aerojet is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader principally serving the missile and space propulsion, and defense and armaments markets. GenCorp Inc. is a technology-based manufacturer with leading positions in aerospace and defense, pharmaceutical and automotive industries. For more information, please visit http://www.aerojet.com and http://www.gencorp.com.

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