Posted on 11/13/2004 6:07:18 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
WASHINGTON--The military installed its sixth and final interceptor of the year at Fort Greely on Thursday, but the ground-based, mid-course missile defense system has yet to be declared in working form.
The 55-foot interceptors at Fort Greely, 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, are designed to shoot down a warhead launched by an enemy missile from overseas.
The Bush administration had pushed to start up the system this fall, a goal that some critics saw as political. The 2004 general election went by, though, without the sixth interceptor in place and with no declaration of "initial defensive capability," as the military calls start-up.
"The decision process with that is going to be with the leadership at Strategic Command and Northern Command," said Maj. Eric Maxon, spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency in Alaska. "We've laid the groundwork and we've got the interceptors in place at Fort Greely."
The military began installing interceptors in July. It had to fly the first one to Eielson Air Force Base because the Allen Army Airfield at Greely was being repaired to handle the large aircraft that would deliver the missiles. One other missile was diverted to Fairbanks because of smoke, Maxon said.
The system is operated and guarded by about 130 members of the National Guard's 49th Missile Defense Battalion.
"Those crews are on station and highly trained and conducting their mission and ready for operations when that decision is made," Maxon said.
Testing of how well the system actually shoots down a missile continues at other sites, including a state-owned launch site on Kodiak Island.
No interceptors will be launched from Fort Greely under current testing plans, due to the proximity of people.
Ten more interceptors will go into silos at the fort next year. Those silos have been excavated and are being prepared now, Maxon said.
Long-term budget documents from the MDA indicate another 10 will go to Fort Greely in following years. The site has enough room for 40.
In the news release announcing the sixth interceptor, the MDA included its standard description and disclaimer: "Although the system will initially have a limited capability when it becomes operational later this year, it will mark the first time the United States has a capability to defend the entire country against a limited long-range ballistic missile attack."
Critics have scoffed at that assertion, saying the system has not been tested to the degree necessary to make such a claim. Five of eight intercept attempts have connected with dummy missiles, but the critics say those were not conducted under real-world conditions. An X-band radar destined for Adak in Alaska's Aleutian Islands is not done yet, nor is a new system of satellites used for detection of enemy launches.
Military leaders insist that having something is better than nothing. Improving the system while using it is the most prudent policy, they say.
Reporter Sam Bishop can be reached at (202) 662-8721 or sbishop@newsminer.com
LOL... the Veep keeps a flashlight in his pants?
must take a couple D_Cells, at least.
"They're hiding the real truth from us...that an E-3 has to go out and place a fire barrel under the thing for half and hour before it will kick over."
Hi CWO, are you saying that an E-3 (individual person) has to warm this thing up before it will "kick over"? That sounds hard to believe. Can you tell me more about it?
Given the weather at Greely, if they don't have it plugged in it would take hours to thaw it out.
"I've never written about Alaska- it must be because I was content there..."
What a beautiful sentiment, nicko. Perhaps your contentment with Alaska will inspire you to write about her someday. If so, I'll stand in line to read your words.
I believe these are all underground silos which may have to be "plugged in" but it shouldn't be more than 30 degrees or so below ground. If they do have to be "plugged in", I would certainly think they would be. hmmmm
I can't see them spending millions upon millions of dollars only to have to put a "flame thrower" on it in order for it to work. That seems rather stupid in our humble opinion. :)
It was set to release certain gases at a specific altitude to see if they could simulate the Lights. Because of the nature of the launch site (active air defense) and needs for the project, the missile was keep above ground for several hours prior to launch. They had two abortive attempts at launching; it seemed some of the electro-mechanical systems had frozen.
They ended up having to erect a tent structure over the missile and launcher and heat it up for several hours before they had a successful launch.
I am certainly no expert, but it would probably be quite unreliable to compare these two projects. Not only has 30 years lapsed since that time, but those missiles (I believe) were above ground missiles. The incredible advances in technology would suggest that we have now overcome obstacles, such as temperature concerns.
Chena, I don't use the <> thing. My first post was nothing more then a JOKING reference to how difficult the weather extremes can be in and around Greely.
I didn't REALLY believe you could be all that serious. You always sounded like an intelligent person to me before. LOL! And forgive my ignorance, but what is a <> thing? You are absolutely correct about the weather extremes here.
True missile defense would involve nuclear-tipped interceptors. We're too politically correct to truly defend this nation.
The < > thing is when you sign off after making a sarcastic statement or joke like /sarcasm off> etc. It's a spoof on the html commands.
I would not count on that. Do you remember Kerry, that obscure candidate, in the 2004 elections? He promised he would end a program that was testing or proposing to test nuclear bunker busting bombs.
The Military and the Administration know what we need. They will supply it.
When I first read this story I just couldn't help but think of all the sophisticated (for the time) weapons systems and such we have place in Alaska, and how we had to adapt procedures to meet the extremes.
When M-16s were first employed up there with the Army one of the pins through the receiver group didn't heat up and expand at the same rate the rest of the receiver group did. This often caused the pin to simply fall out and the weapon to fire off a whole magazine with one trigger pull.
I got the mental picture of a sophisticated missile system with the standard heater plug in.
Thanks for the info on the <>....I mean that sincerely. LOL I'm illiterate when it comes to HTML, but hope to get educated about it this winter when I'm bored...REALLY bored, and have nothing better to do but howl at the moon. LOL
ROFL!!!!!!!! Ah yes, I can see now why those dang <>'s can be a personal problem ha!
"I got the mental picture of a sophisticated missile system with the standard heater plug in."
THAT I can relate to! I sure hope they have a double block heater on the thing-a-ma-jig that makes it go boom boom. I know for a fact that they have lined the inside of the silos with the same material used on the inside of our "bunny boots". <>
I remember back in the late 60's/early 70's they had plug in's on the parking meters; that only worked while the metered was paid up. A real incentive to keep the meter running. Do they still use the same system?
Living in Alaska during the pipeline construction days was almost like the Gold Rush...quite the experience.
Yes, we go to "town" (Fbks) to get groceries and other supplies. I do not believe there are any parking meters in Fairbanks anymore. I've never seen any. All of the larger stores have many plug-ins and all of the motels do as well. There is no charge for their use.
I remember before we built our garage we had to plug our rigs in every night during the winter. And even then, sometimes we'd have to put a flame-thrower under them sometimes. We now put our diesel truck on a timer even when it's parked in the garage during the brutal temps. No guarantees that we'll have brakes, but everyone else is in the same boat so we keep a good distance between rigs.
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