Sun, Dec 19, 2010
Second Such Test That Was Unsuccessful
An anti-long-range ballistic missile test conducted over the
Pacific Ocean by the Missile Defense Agency did not achieve its
planned intercept of its target Wednesday. It was the second time
the system was unsuccessful in this type of test.
Interceptor Launch MDA Photo
The test results were announced by MDA spokesman Richard Lehner
in an e-mail. No explanation was offered.
Reuters reports that the first test of the Boeing-managed system
was in January. In a news release, the Missile Defense Agency said
it was unable to achieve a planned intercept of a ballistic missile
target during a test over the Pacific Ocean. The flight test
included the successful flight of an intermediate-range ballistic
missile target from Ronald Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in
the Republic of the Marshall Islands and a long-range interceptor
missile launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA.
The Sea Based X-Band radar (SBX) and all sensors performed as
planned. The Ground Based Interceptor (GBI) was launched and
successfully deployed an Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV). Program
officials will conduct an extensive investigation to determine the
cause of the failure to intercept the target. The next flight test
will be determined after identification of the cause of the
failure.
The Missile Defense Agency called the failure a "tremendous
setback," and said it called into question the reliability of
intercepters already deployed in California and Alaska. It follows
on the heels of a failed airborne laser missile defense test, a
program which accrding to Reuters has had its funding cut to
the point it is no longer considered a candidate for eventual
deployment.
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