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.

FMI: www.mda.mil