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In test, US intercepts short-range missile: Pentagon
Washington (AFP) March 18, 2009 The US military successfully shot down a short-range ballistic missile near Hawaii in a test of its ground-based missile defense system, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. The target missile was "more likely to be classified as a short-range ballistic missile" because it had a range of less than 621 miles (1,000 kilometers), Ricker Lehner, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency told AFP. The Pentagon's announcement came amid growing concern over North Korea's scheduled April 4-8 rocket launch that the United States suspects is designed as a test of a long-range ballistic missile that could theoretically reach Alaska. It was the first time the US military fired two interceptors at a target missile in a test of defense weaponry designed to knock out missiles in their last stage of flight, Lehner said. In a genuine attack, it would be more likely to fire more than one interceptor in case one failed, he said. The first interceptor struck the target and the second was then destroyed by missile range safety officers, Lehner said. The test was carried out on Tuesday at a missile range off the island of Kauai in Hawaii at 2:30 local time (0230 GMT), according a statement from the Missile Defense Agency. In the test, the warhead on the target missile was separated from the rocket motor, requiring the interceptors to distinguish between the two. The dummy warhead was shot down in its last minutes of flight, Lehner said. The soldiers who operated the system did not know when the target missile would be launched and more than 20 radars and sensors were employed on the test range to collect flight test data from the interceptor and the target, Lehner said. The exercise was a test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which is designed to intercept short to medium range ballistic missiles. The US anti-missile defense system has come in for criticism from some lawmakers over its reliability and cost, with skeptics charging the tests are not based on realistic conditions. But the head of Northern Command, Air Force General Victor 'Gene' Renuart, expressed confidence in the system, telling a senate hearing on Tuesday that the military would be able to defend the United States against a possible North Korean long-range missile. He addded that North Korea represented "a very limited threat." Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Japan may deploy interceptors for NKorean launch: govt
Tokyo (AFP) March 18, 2009Japan is considering re-positioning land and sea-based interceptor missiles so they can shoot down a North Korean rocket if it threatens to hit its territory, the government said Wednesday. |
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