Posted on 07/31/2009 8:42:52 AM PDT by Cheap_Hessian
The latest US missile defence test, conducted last night in Hawaii waters, was deemed a success as tensions continue with North Korea over that country's missile programme.
A short-range ballistic missile was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai and then was shot down by a three-stage interceptor missile from a destroyer, the USS Hopper.
The test, conducted by the Navy and the Department of Defense's Missile Defence Agency, marked the 23rd firing by ships equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system.
With the latest test, there have been 19 successes, including the shooting down of a dead US spy satellite last year.
On July 4, North Korea violated UN Security Council resolutions by sending seven ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast.
There had been speculation North Korea would launch a missile toward Hawaii - about 4,500 miles away - to coincide with the July 4 Independence Day holiday in the US.
Two other Navy ships participated in Thursday's test, dubbed 'Stellar Avenger'.
According to a Missile Defence Agency statement, the Hopper fired and guided an SM-3 Block IA missile that intercepted the target missile about 100 miles above the Pacific Ocean.
Meanwhile, the USS O'Kane simulated an engagement and the USS Lake Erie detected and tracked the target, the agency said.
The statement said the Hopper's weapons system guided its missile to a 'direct body to body hit, approximately two minutes after leaving the ship.'
The Lake Erie used an advanced version of the Aegis system in a simulation to evaluate how it would function with a SM-3 Block IB missile.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The liberals said it would never work.
Glad to see our jackies can shoot straight!
God Bless Ronald Reagan. And damn the marxist poser.
I thought obama was going to shut this program down? Wasn’t that one of his campaign promises?
“...I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful (defense) spending.”
“I will not weaponize space.”
“I will slow our development of future combat systems.”
“Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.”
“I don’t switch positions or makr promises that can’t be kept.”
Quotes from a speech that Marxist A-hole delivered while campaigning during the Democrat primaries.
If this doesn’t scare you, nothing will. We WILL cease being a great power by the time he is done emasculating our military.
I think Texas has the right idea: Secede before it is too late.
OK. If it works, why haven’t we tried it out on N Korea’s missiles yet?
On account nobody knows how to say “PULL!” in Korean?
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