Posted on 11/14/2002 12:23:20 PM PST by Shermy
VANDENBERG AFB -- A symbol of Operation Desert Storm will fly from Vandenberg Air Force Base today as the U.S. military aims to learn more about Scud missiles.
The Scud missile will launch between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. today, according to Maj. Stacee Bako, a Vandenberg Air Force Base spokeswoman. Officials didn't announce the launch date until Wednesday afternoon.
The test is one of two Scud missile launches planned by the Missile Defense Agency before the end of the year under a $13 million program dubbed "Operation Blue Velvet."
The weapon, similar to those fired by Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, will blast off from an above-ground launcher on North Base, where other ballistic missiles are regularly tested from underground silos.
Weather doesn't look very accommodating, with officials saying there's an 80 percent chance conditions will prevent liftoff. Cloud cover is the main concern.
Military officials want to collect data on the weapon for the development of the next-generation Patriot missile, used to defend against Scud missiles during Operation Desert Storm.
Equipment on the ground and on the weapon will send back reams of data on the missile's performance.
The weapon is expected to travel about 180 miles west of the base and end somewhere over the ocean.
Typically, tests involving missiles that travel shorter distances occur over land at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
"Vandenberg has a lot more range assets than White Sands does for that kind of missile," said Lt. Col. Richard Lehner, a Missile Defense Agency spokesman.
* Staff writer Janene Scully can be reached at (805) 739-2214 or by e-mail at janscully@ pulitzer.net.
November 14, 2002
Nobody. People that live there are used to it. The SCUD is liquid fueled, therefore not much of a smoke trail, and is being launched at mid-day (no twilight phenomenon). All in all a ho-hum event on the central California coast.
Must have been that evil Navy sonar that the 9th circuit court outlawed.
That should be "far less accurate." They got more range at the expense of accuracy--the reentry vehicle operates in a regime beyond what the its Reynolds and Froude numbers can tolerate, so the thing tumbles all over the damn place. The odds are that you don't even hit the right time zone.
Then just fly IFR.
IFR = I Follow Roads
"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....
Sam_Paine, in the future, try not to assume that everyone is somehow trying to belittle their fellow freeper :^)
-bc
Ditto that. Great tool for situational awareness when working, though.
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