Posted on 02/24/2005 5:55:22 PM PST by familyop
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A missile fired from a U.S. Navy ship off Kauai, Hawaii, intercepted and destroyed a mock warhead on Thursday, the fifth success in six such test of the fledgling U.S. anti-missile shield's sea-based leg, the Pentagon announced.
"We had a successful hit-to-kill intercept," said Richard Lehner, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency.
The target was tracked from the cruiser Lake Erie using the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. It was launched from the U.S. Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai.
The ship fired a Standard Missile (SM)-3 at the target outside the earth's atmosphere during the descent phase of flight, Lockheed said. Raytheon Co. is developing the SM-3.
The Defense Department plans to field up to 30 SM-3 missiles on Aegis-equipped ships by 2007 to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in mid-flight. Other systems are being developed to defend at different stages.
For the ground-based mid-course leg of ballistic missile defense, managed for the Pentagon by Boeing Co., five of eight shoot down tests have been completed successfully.
Interceptor missiles failed to launch from their silos in the last two ground-based tests because of hardware and software glitches.
The Pentagon plans to spend roughly $10 billion a year over the next five years on all aspects of missile defense. The initial "layered" shield is designed to thwart missiles that could be fired from North Korea, possibly tipped with nuclear, chemical or germ warheads.
Last fall, the Japan-based Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Curtis Wilbur became the first component of the anti-missile shield to be put on patrol in the Sea of Japan to guard against North Korean attack.
Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed, the Pentagon's No. 1 supplier, calls Aegis the world's premier naval defense system, capable of defending against air, surface and underwater threats.
Currently deployed on 68 U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers, the Aegis system is also being supplied to Spain, Japan, South Korea, Norway and Australia.
did the war head come from vandenberg?
My first thought!
Isn't that interesting that it works that way in the MSM.
Boy, it must be a trip to be on the bridge for that shot, eh???
Heh, brings out the pyro in all of us!
Yet another advanced technology we'll have to block from Europeans going forward if they start selling arms to China.
Although I consider the decision short-sighted and obtuse (yes, I am Canadian), the government of Canada officially turned down an invitation to involve itself with missle defense today. Everything from technical feasibility issues to it leading to the weaponization of space were cited as reasons.
Does anyone else find it odd that this "success" occurred on the very day that Canada said "no, eh"?
at least we don't have to worry about the Canadians wanting this anymore......
I worked on THAADS in the early 90's. We could have had these capabilities 10 years ago...but guess who got in the way and cut it off. That's right, the toon.
One of these days, one of these things is going to save about a million liberals from getting torched. When that happens, it will have been their idea all along.
Don't worry. Hillary will kill the project and use the savings to fund additional social programs.
That's okay.
You can pick up the parts that fall in Canada after we shoot it down over Canadian airspace ;)
No Hitlery won't, she will not get the chance...Condolisa will forge ahead with it...LOL!
Boy, does it burn my butt that Hilliary is doing a makeover that is going to fool a lot of people. I would like to think that a lot of people won't fall for it, but I know a lot will.
To see her on the Senate Armed Services Committee is enough to make me grind all my teeth to stubs. God help us.
Yes, I would say that is rather short sighted.
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