Flight test OK'd for new Aegis missiles

An advanced component of the U.S. missile defense system has been cleared for flight testing beginning next year.

The Raytheon Co., which has headquarters in Waltham, Mass., had design work carried out at the company's Missile System facilities in Tucson.

The Standard Missile-3 Block IB program recently completed a critical design review, which will allow for flight tests in 2010 with eventual deployment in Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense systems by the U.S. Department of Defense's Missile Defense Agency, the company said in a release.

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