US touts successful missile-defense test

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyid=2005-12-14T172924Z_01_DIT462934_RTRUKOC_0_US-ARMS-MISSILE-USA.xml&rpc=22 ^

[solitas]

The United States successfully tested a Boeing Co.-managed missile defense system aimed at thwarting a limited, long-range ballistic missile attack, but did not use a live target, the Pentagon announced.

A ground-based interceptor missile was launched from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands against a simulated target, the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said late on Tuesday night.

The simulation was based on a hypothetical missile launch from Kodiak, Alaska, using data from previous launches, said the agency, known as MDA.

[solitas]

(I don't know if FR can post entire Reuters articles - hit the link)

So, based upon their measurements of where they they believed the missle was, it intersected a target that was calculated to be spatially and temporally coincident; provided that the measurements and the calculations were accurate....?

It's comforting to know that we can reliably shoot-down things that aren't really there. </sarc>

[Brilliant]

I guess this is their way of reducing the cost.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Clintons held us back from pursuing this technology for the eight years they occupied the White House.

[wvobiwan]

Excellent, we're all set for when those bastards in Nome come after us...

[IronChefSakai]

Who needs defence when you have an awesome nuclear offensive arsenal? :-D

[ozoneliar]

How is this any better than the Arrow ABM?

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I recently participated in a live fire test. The cost was $40,000,000.00. About $250,000 for the round, $20,000,000.00 for range safety and the ballance for support, instrumentation, etc. Yeah, not shooting live rounds saves a lot of money, about 9/10 the cost. Get everything 110% right before you even think about firing a live round.

[jackson29]

why didn't they try shooting the cow that jumped over the moon??? Then they could say they did/not hit the target. WTF?

[sam_paine]

How is this any better than the Arrow ABM?

The Israelis have developed one primary theater system.

The US is developing airborne (space-based) laser, exoatmospheric kill systems, THAAD, Aegis upgrades and the local PAC-3 capability that the Israelis also depend on.

Arrow ain't all that and a can of sprite, or whatever the kids say.

[Paul_Denton]

In most cases what you say is right. But there are nutjobs who are willing to die. Such as Iran's president.

[ozoneliar]

The Israelis have developed one primary theater system. The US is developing airborne (space-based) laser, exoatmospheric kill systems, THAAD, Aegis upgrades and the local PAC-3 capability that the Israelis also depend on. Thanks, but can you explain it in laymans terms?

[fallujah-nuker]

http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=40 The article is dated but the basic information is still valid, e.g. "The new generation of Third World missile however have longer ranges and therefore higher re-entry speeds – and of course also more destructive warheads. One reason why anyone might fire a missile with a maximum range of, say, 30OOkm, at a target that is only 500 km away is that such a missile would arrive at its target after having reached a height of about 1200 km – roughly the height reached by intercontinental missiles. Like them, it would arrive at speeds of typically over 6 km/sec. That is three times the speed of Scuds, and about twice the speed of the targets that Arrow is designed to handle. The technology for the Russian 3000 km SS-4 going to Iran, the North Korean Taepo Dongs and the various longer range Chinese missiles on their way to the Mid-East, represent not just the capability to reach Europe, but the capability to breach all U.S. TBM defenses."

[fallujah-nuker]

Sorry, I ruined the URL when I threw in HTML, here it is:

http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=40

[jackson29]

hey diddle diddle,

i remember when i was 14 too, and i had a simulated target as well. conjure up what you will ,,,, it ain't the same.

either it works or it doesnt, the rest is fantasy and conversation, hows that go? i'm from missouri, show me.

[sam_paine]

The US shield has more than one layer. Liftoff, space, re-entry, and theater area defense. It also has some overlap in systems. The Aegis sea-born system could do similar things near land that the PAC-3 missile can do.

The Israelis have also purchased some of the American systems. Arrow is a political response to the Gulf War I where the Israelis had NO ABM systems of their own.*

*My personal opinion!

[Momaw Nadon]

Bump!