The Associated Press December 11, 2003
Military successfully tests ballistic missile defense system
By B.J. REYES
An interceptor missile fired from a Navy ship knocked a target rocket out of the sky over the Pacific on Thursday in the first successful test of a U.S. missile defense system in more than a year, military officials said.
In June, an interceptor missile missed the target rocket in a similar test.
"It's about time," said John Pike, director of the military consulting firm GlobalSecurity.org. "They have had some problems in several of their previous tests. I think they've been working real hard to make up for lost time."
The Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie launched a Standard Missile-3 interceptor - designed to destroy its target by colliding with it rather than using a large explosion - from an undisclosed location in the Pacific. The defense has been compared to hitting a bullet with a bullet.
An Aries medium-range target missile was launched from the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai at 8:10 a.m. and was struck down four minutes later, said Chris Taylor, spokesman for the federal Missile Defense Agency in Washington.
The interceptor was traveling more than 8,000 mph when it collided with the target at an altitude of about 85 miles, Taylor said.
A primary objective of Thursday's test was to evaluate long-range surveillance and tracking systems that pick up the target and relay information to the Aegis cruiser at sea, Taylor said.
Thursday's test was the third in a series of six for the sea-based tests evaluating upgraded control systems that guide the interceptor to the airborne target.
The first test in the current series was successful in November 2002, followed by the failed attempt in June. Two other tests of a sea-based interceptor also were successful in 2002 in a previous series of exercises.
Sea-based interceptors are designed to guard against medium-range missiles.
Since January 2001, the Pentagon has been successful in four of five attempts to intercept a long-range warhead in space with an interceptor launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific. The most recent test of those ground-based systems in December 2002 was unsuccessful.
That unsuccessful test was a week before President Bush ordered the Pentagon to have ready for use by late 2004 a bare-bones system for defending American territory, troops and allies against attack by ballistic missiles.
Some military analysts doubt the viability of any broad system designed to intercept incoming missiles.
"Are they going to be able to get something into the field that might work fairly well some of the time? Probably yes," said Pike. "Is it something that any sane human being would be willing to try out in combat? Probably not. I think we will remain uncertain as to how effective and reliable it will be for some time to come."
Under Bush's plan, six ground-based interceptors would be based at Fort Greely, Alaska, by the end of 2004, with 10 more added by the end of 2005. Four interceptors would be at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., for a total of 20 by the end of 2005.
Also, 20 Standard Missile-3 interceptors would be placed aboard three Navy ships with improved versions of the Aegis system.
The sea-based system was outlawed under the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, but the United States withdrew from the treaty last year. The plan also calls for the development of ground-based interceptors.
© Copyright 2003, Gannett Company, Inc.
