Posted on 07/29/2004 2:59:44 PM PDT by Pharmboy
LOS ANGELES (AP) - An anti-ballistic missile under development by the United States and Israel intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile during a test Thursday off the California coast, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said. The intercept over the Point Mugu Sea Range was conducted as a test of an improved version of the Arrow missile, the agency said. Point Mugu is 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
"The objective of the test was to demonstrate the Arrow system's improved performance against a target that represents a threat to Israel. The test represented a realistic scenario that could not have been tested in Israel due to test-field safety restrictions," the agency said in a press release.
It was the 12th Arrow intercept test and the seventh test of the complete Arrow system, which includes radar and communications equipment as well as the missile.
Missile Defense Agency spokesman Chris Taylor said he could not say how many of the intercept tests have been successful.
Israel deployed the Arrow anti-missile system after the 1991 Gulf War, when Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel.
Asked if the target missile was a Scud, Taylor would describe it only as "a short-range target representative of a threat Israel might encounter."
Taylor said the target missile was launched from a platform at sea and the interceptor was launched from San Nicolas Island, about 70 miles southwest of the Los Angeles coastline.
The intercept occurred about 50 miles west-southwest of San Nicolas, Taylor said. He did not release details of the altitude at which the intercept occurred.
In an interview with Israel TV, Israeli defense ministry official Ariyeh Hertzog described the test as "the first attempt against a target which represents the real threat."
"It was a perfect trial, from the point of view of acquiring the target and destroying it," he said from California.
AP-ES-07-29-04 1725EDT
The only problem is, it won't fire Fridays after sundown and all day Saturday.
I know this is the AP, but was the test a success or was it just called a success?
>>The only problem is, it won't fire Fridays after sundown and all day Saturday.
Not true... What happens is that there are two sets of guidance systems. One is Jewish, the other is gentile. On the Sabbath, the Jewish part ask the Gentile to do the work!
(For those outside of Jewish communities, it's not uncommon for Jews to ask Gentiles to turn on their television on the Sabbath!)
I was told something...and it made sense at the time, but is it true that if we have a NMD system in place we've essentially secured the nation against foreign jets as well?
If it destroyed the missile ... I'd call that success.
I'm no expert, but if it can take down missiles, you'd think it could take planes down...
The Democrats and their egghead friends keep saying a national missle defense system will never work... <sarcasm
I agree, but the AP headline should read, "U.S.-Israeli Missile Intercept Test off California Coast a Success," not CALLED a Success.
Oops, I forgot that the AP would have us believe that all this Star Wars Reagan-Bush lunacy can't possibly work and we should leave ourselves and our allies vulnerable or we might just go and start WW III. If only we can get John Kerry elected. He will kill this program right after he finishes kissing Edwards on the lips and apologizing to France, Germany and the U.N.
> Asked if the target missile was a Scud, Taylor would
> describe it only as "a short-range target
> representative of a threat Israel might encounter."
Earlier reports, sourced from Israeli news sites,
specifically said that the target was an actual Scud
that the US had bought from "somewhere".
Message to Iran: you might as well live up to the treaty
you signed, because your missles won't reliably get to
any targets anyway.
Thank you Geroge W. Bush !
Outstanding! Hitting a bullet with a bullet.
Nice intercept!Also, a sea-launched ballistic missile is something *more* dangerous than a mere scud...
5 Legislative Days Left Until The AWB Expires
Hopefully the Israelis won't end up selling the tech to the Chinese...
I call that a success. You call that a success. Israel & the US calls that a success.
AP calls it a question mark.
Good point...I hope we made our point of view clear on this. But when x42 was there, he set a different precedent; with Dubya riding herd, another story.
what they said was true back in 1984 or so... and a little less true every time an ABM test was tried, and after every dollar was spent trying to develop the system, and every time a newer, faster computer came out. in 2004, i'd their statement is now "inoperative"...
Sincerely,
Neo-Conservative Bagel-Snarfing Most Learned Elder of Zion #5

I hear they're using Manischewitz wine for rocket fuel!
Israel stopped its arms sales to China by the year 2000,due to American pressure & the fact that China sold missile tech to Syria & Iran.Having said that-can one blame the Israelis alone-after all Israel started armssales at a time when China was the toast of the West(I don't mean France alone)-else how can u explain the fact that China has a few S-70 blackhawks & that its main light weight anti-sub torpedo is a copy of the baseline MK-46,if Tianammen had'nt happened they would operating harpoons & phalanx CIWS now -no these were not sold by Clinton-these sales took place in the mid 80s & we all know which administration was around then. U cannot apply standards selectively -the US itself should take part of the blame for Israeli arms sales,most of which can be sold only after Washington's approval.
BTW-Israel's main buyer now is India-which has been buying atleast 2 billion worth of systems for the past 4 years.India does operate a radar system of the ARROW complex,known as the Greenpine,which is hooked up to India's Russian S-300 missile systems.
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