Posted on 05/30/2021 11:11:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A Navy warship and the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency on Saturday failed twice in a key test to shoot down a medium-range ballistic missile, raising questions about America’s readiness to intercept potential enemy attacks.
The Defense Department did not reveal a specific location, but it’s believed the test took place somewhere off the coast of Hawaii.
The announcement of the test’s failure comes just one day after the Biden administration requested a fiscal 2022 budget of $8.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), down from its 2021 figure of $9.1 billion.
In the past, the U.S. military has conducted successful missile intercepts in the region. It’s unclear exactly what led to Saturday’s failure, and Pentagon officials say a thorough investigation is already under way.
“The objective of the test was to demonstrate the capability of a ballistic missile defense (BMD)-configured Aegis ship to detect, track, engage and intercept a medium range ballistic missile target with a salvo of two Standard Missile-6 Dual II (BMD-initialized) missiles. However, an intercept was not achieved,” the MDA said in a brief statement. “Program officials have initiated an extensive review to determine the cause of any problems which may have prevented a successful intercept and will thoroughly analyze the results.”
Perhaps adding insult to injury, a Russian naval surveillance ship is believed to have been in the theater over the weekend and its crew may have witnessed the failed test. U.S. officials have been tracking the Russian vessel since early last week.
“U.S. Pacific Fleet is aware of the Russian vessel operating in international waters in the vicinity of Hawaii and will continue to track it through the duration of its time here,” fleet spokesman Capt. John Gay said in a statement to the media outlet USNI News last week.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This is really a bummer.
America’s ability to intercept missiles in the Pacific is key to the nation’s defense strategy. Nations such as China and North Korea theoretically could launch ballistic-missile attacks toward Hawaii and other U.S. targets.
MORE DETAILS FROM Military.com:
[EXCERPT]
U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor said in a statement at the time that it was “aware of the Russian vessel operating in international waters in the vicinity of Hawaii, and will continue to track it through the duration of its time here. Through maritime patrol aircraft, surface ships and joint capabilities, we can closely monitor all vessels in the Indo-Pacific area of operations.”
An official previously said the test was delayed because the United States did not want the Russian vessel to “collect on “ the effort.
The Missile Defense Agency said today that, “We executed this test within the test window so there was no delay.” It was not immediately clear if the Russian ship had departed the Hawaiian islands.
U.S. Naval Institute News, which was the first to report the presence of the ship, said it was the Russian Navy Vishnya-class auxiliary general intelligence, or AGI, ship Kareliya (SSV-535 ).
The Vladivostok-based ship is one of seven AGIs specializing in signals intelligence, USNI News said.
The website navyrecognition.com reported in 2017 that the Kareliya had been mothballed for more than 10 years until January 2014 when a “comprehensive repair and retrofit of the ship “ was performed. After that, it was turned over to the Russian Pacific Fleet.
USNI News said the Russian ship was operating 13 nautical miles west of Kauai in international waters. Territorial waters begin at 12 nautical miles.
“Russia is testing hypersonic weapons and maybe seeking insights into our missile systems that might enhance their hypersonic weapons ability to penetrate our defenses, “ said retired Navy Capt. Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center and an adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University.
Why would this be made public?
Loose lips...
My brother worked on those Bayesian intercept algorithms in the 70s. They succeed in other systems, what’s the problem? Sounds like the interceptor control surfaces or thrusters have gone askew?
RE: Why would this be made public?
I can’t answer that. All I know is that it is all over the mainstream media, I also heard it on the radio.
And they would cease to exist beyond nomadic tribes after our Ohio-class boomers finish them. That is why they don’t.
“They succeed in other systems, what’s the problem? Sounds like the interceptor control surfaces or thrusters have gone askew?”
How about disinformation?
Biden’s cheaper fat rubber band propulsion impulse system won’t work any better, either. Try a big gun like in Jules Verne novels.
Maybe the Russian ship was testing successful countermeasures for the countermeasures.
Looks like I'm not the only one that had thoughts along those lines:
Missile defense test fails off Kauai after appearance by Russian spy ship
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/05/29/breaking-news/missile-defense-test-fails-off-kauai-following-appearance-by-russian-spy-ship/
Biden: "Gosh, Dr.Jill,maybe I shouldn't have told all our secrets to Putin. He seemed so curious and interested and nice over the phone and I didn't want to appear rude."
I haven’t read the article yet but could the Russian ship have used electronic measures to mess it up?
So they failed four times then ...
The MDA is one of the most bloated useless organizations in history, amazing they get anything accomplished. They probably have an overhead of 20 people for every boot on the ground (might be a low estimate).
Maybe the Russian ship was testing successful countermeasures for the countermeasures.
In the Reagan, era, we would have let them know that they succeeded, after they failed.
Russian ships in International Waters happens all the time. It’s not like we don’t do the same thing. Geez...
I agree.
“Why would this be made public?
Loose lips...”
Selective disinformation.
Probably intentionally screwed the pooch with the test to give the Russians bad info.
It’s the Harris/Biden Navy now...
As specialized as those folks are at rigging and faking outcomes, this could very well be a “demonstration” that the US will pose no defense against hostile missile attack, thus taking away a very real deterrent that once stayed the hand of these potential adversaries.
The military services have already been badly compromised with a cadre of officers in key positions, that have fully endorsed the political actions of the ruling oligarchy that is now in control of the US establishment and the Deep State that has wrested control from good and honorable leaders. They shall get the answers they want, and use them to virtue signal to the rest of the world that the US is ready to “co-operate” in its own dismissal from world leadership.
Abdication of responsible power must be handled delicately.
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