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Thu, Dec 16, 2004

Missile Defense Test Is A Bust

Interceptor Failed To Launch

The first full-blown test of the missile shield in almost two years fizzled on the pad Wednesday when the interceptor rocket shut itself down just prior to launch. That could spell setback for plans to deploy an early version of the missile defense by the end of the year.

"This is a serious setback for a program that had not attempted a flight intercept test for two years," said Philip Coyle, the Pentagon's chief weapons tester under President Ronald Reagan, in an e-mail exchange with Reuters.

In announcing his plan for a missile defense in 2002, President Bush said a rudimentary version of the system would be operational by the end of this year, even as the military continued its development. But Wednesday morning's "anomaly" automatically shut down the interceptor while it was still in its silo on Kwajalien Atoll in the Pacific.

The last test, in December, 2002, also ended in failure when the 120-pound kill vehicle failed to part from its booster rocket.

FMI: www.acq.osd.mil/mda/mdalink/html/mdalink.html

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