Cause of missile defense test failure unclear: US

AFP via Google News ^ | 12/16/2010 | AFP

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

A top US general said Thursday it was unclear why an interceptor meant to knock out incoming ballistic missiles failed in a test for the second time in a row.

General James Cartwright, the military's second highest ranking officer, said he had no doubts that the country's missile defense system could fend off potential threats, despite Wednesday's failed test.

"I'm not the least bit concerned that we don't have a capability to defeat, should we need to, that rogue threat that the system's been designed against," Cartwright told reporters.

In the test on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, an interceptor rocket launched from a base in California failed to intercept its target, an intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Missile Defense Agency said.

Officials will carry out an "extensive investigation to determine the cause of the failure to intercept the target," the agency said in a statement.

A similar test carried on January 31 resulted in failure.

Cartwright said the latest test involved an "upgraded version" of an interceptor, but that older models currently deployed were reliable.

[FreeAtlanta]

Negative mojo from the current administration.

[Brilliant]

Might as well paint a big bullseye on San Fransisco.

[jwparkerjr]

Imagine today’s press following Edison’s search for a suitable filament material as they try to make every failure in a Star Wars test look like it spells doom for Ronald Reagan’s vision for a safe America!

Edison went through hundreds and hundreds of materials, always with the same result, failure. Until he got around to tungsten.

At his summer home in Ft. Myers, FL, they tell the story of a reporter asking him if it wasn’t very depressing to keep coming up short over and over. His classic reply was that he considered every test not a failure, but rather a success in that each time it didn’t work he knew he was one step closer to what WOULD work.

Sir Winston Churchill said it well, “Success, the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Might not be correct word for word, but you get the idea!