WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has claimed its third straight
success in a missile defense flight test.
The U.S. Defense Department said the successful test took place on late
Friday when a ground-based interceptor missile destroyed a dummy warhead
over the Pacific Ocean. The kill vehicle destroyed the missile 30 minutes
after the target was launched from a U.S. Air Force base in California.
So far, the Pentagon achieved four intercepts over the last six tests as
part of the Ground-based Midcourse Missile Defense system. A Defense
Department statement called the latest intercept "a major step in our
aggressive developmental test program."
Officials said the $100 million test included the operation of such
subsystems as early warning sensors, X-band ground radars and computerized
command centers. The test also included three balloon decoys, two more than
in previous tests.
"We will continue to pursue this testing regime to achieve a layered
approach to missile defense, using different architectures to deter the
growing threat of ballistic missiles carrying weapons of mass destruction,"
a Pentagon statement said.
The Pentagon plans to launch 19 flight tests as part of the U.S. missile
defense effort. Each test is planned to be more realistic than the previous
one.
